The Shootout
by LovinJackson
Summary: BrotherhoodAU. After Dean's comment about wanting to eat a real meal in 'Simon Said' Sam convinces his brother to go out for dinner at an Italian restaurant but will there be deadly consequences?
1. Eating Out

**The Shootout**

**Author:** Tara aka LovinJackson

**Summary:** After Dean's comment about wanting to eat a real meal in 'Simon Said' Sam convinces his brother to go out for dinner at an Italian restaurant but will there be deadly consequences?

**Spoilers: **Anything up til 'Simon Said'

**Disclaimer:** I dont own supernatural, Dean or Sam thats all Kripke ... but God I wish I did hehe

**Authors Notes:** Helloooo again :) This fic does happen to have a story behind it hehe. I was watching an episode of Starsky and Hutch called "The Shootout" (one of my fav episodes hehe) and for anyone who knows the show and has seen the episode you will know what i'm talking about. Anyways without giving the story away for people who dont know i just wanted to say that as i was watching the ep with my mother and we both started wondering how the boys would cope with the situation. For those who know the episode their are noticable changes to suit the show and the time but anyways i hope you's like this and like the following chapters :) Oh and i just wanted to shout out to **Gaelicspirit** and **Sojourner84** and i hope everyone is reading their co-written story **'Sunday Bloody Sunday'** :) its awesome :) if you didnt know about it, it can be found at Sojourner84's page. Okay guys hope you enjoy the read ...

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**The Shootout**

**Chapter 1. Eating Out**

Back and forth, back and forth. Dean enjoyed the familiar movements of sliding his favourite dagger over the whetstone. His dagger wasn't exactly dull, it probably didn't need sharpening but Dean enjoyed the motion. It was relaxing and right now that's what he needed.

He'd almost blown his own his own brains out not even a week ago. Sure he had been under the mind control of some freak psychic some how connected to that son of a bitch yellow-eyed demon but it had scared him and not for the reasons most people might think. For a split second as he felt his hands reposition the sniper rifle under his chin he had felt relief. For a split second he had wondered whether it would have been so bad. One bullet and all the unbearable grief, guilt and pain would have been gone. He would have been released of the pressure and burden his father has dumped on his shoulders. It was only for a split second but Dean couldn't even believe that the thought had even crossed his mind. If he weren't around then who would look after Sam? Who would save Sam from the yellow-eyed demons plans? He had made a promise to his father that he would look after his little brother and he had made a promise to himself that he would save same other than the alternative his father had given him because that simply wasn't an option. No-one was killing Sam especially not him. Checking out wasn't an option and the fact that he had even let it enter his mind for even a second was eating him up.

He was glad that Sam didn't have the ability to read minds …. Yet. There was no way he wanted his brother knowing his thoughts at this moment. The kid was already stressed enough about his so called destiny and Dean's emotional state since their fathers death.

Dean looked across the room to where Sam sat pouring over the local paper. The newly gung ho hunter was no doubt looking for another hunt. The thought made Dean scrape the blade across the whetstone a little harder in frustration. Dean could admit to himself that Sam's new attitude towards hunting would have been welcome a year ago but now it was just irritating and slightly terrifying. Hunting had always been a dangerous gig but Sam was all he had left and if you went looking for trouble nine times out of ten you would find it, ten times out of ten if your name was Winchester.

It was late and Dean decided that he'd had enough to listening to Sam flip through the local paper and his dagger really was sharp enough already. Putting the dagger and whetstone down dean stood up and walked to his duffle at the end of his bed.

"What are you doing? Sam's voice broke the silence and dean turned around with a clean t-shirt and boxers in his hand. "Taking a shower before I hit the sack. Why?"

Sam sat back and shrugged his shoulders. "Nothin'"

"Okay …"Dean replied slowly as if waiting for Sam to tell him what was really one his mind. He knew that look on Sam's face. The kid was thinking something up. Dean wasn't in the mood to press. Sam would tell him if something was really wrong and with that thought in mind Dean made his way over the to bathroom door, passing Sam as he went.

"Wait …"

Dean stopped just before entering the bathroom and closed his eyes with an amused shake of his head. "What Sammy?"

"Well I was just thinking …"

"That's never a good thing." Dean joked, leaning against the door frame facing Sam.

Sam rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored Dean's attempted dig. "We haven't eaten anything yet."

Dean raised his left wrist and looked down at his watch. "It's 10.30pm dude."

"So … I'm hungry."

"So … go out an get something but remember you harm my car and I'll harm you."

"I was actually thinking of going out to a restaurant to eat an actual meal for a change." Sam waited to see his brothers reaction to his suggestion.

Dean frowned in confusion. "Sam, it's 10.30."

Sam chuckled. " Since when is 10.30 too late to go out for you grandpa?"

"Since when are you offering to go out after 9pm grandma?"

"Dude, I'm serious."

Dean seemed to think about it for the moment and then nodded. "Okay then I think I saw a bar down the road." he walked over to his bed and chucked the clothes he'd been holding on top of the putrid green covers.

"No."

Dean turned around to look at his brother once again in confusion. "No?"

"No."

"Dude, you just said you wanted to go out."

"I said to a restaurant."

"Why?"

Sam stood up and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair he'd been sitting on and put it on. "Well, the other day when we were staking out Andy's van you mentioned that you'd like to sit down to a proper cooked meal for a change and it got me thinking … I think you're right. We should."

Dean lowered his gaze to the floor for a moment and then looked back at Sam with an amused grin forming on his lips. "I really do have to watch what I say to you don't I?"

"Fine Dean, you know what it was a stupid suggestion." The youngest Winchester huffed, slightly annoyed that his brother found his nice suggestion so amusing.

"Don't get your panties in a twist Sammy. I didn't say it was a stupid suggestion okay. I think it came ad an odd time but its not stupid." Dean said holding up his hands in a placating manner. "Is there even a restaurant open at this time of night in this town?"

Sam's annoyed frown turned into a smile. "Actually there is. I was talking to the librarian …"

"What was her name?" Dean interrupted earning a confused look from Sam as he tried to remember the name.

"Umm … Caitlin I think. Why?"

"Was she cute?"

Sam gave his brother a long suffering sigh. "Would you for once rest your downstairs brain."

"Did you get her number?" Dean smirked, picking up his wallet, phone and keys off the bedside table and followed his brother to the door.

"As I was saying I was talking to Caitlin and she was telling me about this 24 hour Italian restaurant in town. It's a couple of doors down from the bank."

"Lead on McDuff." Dean stopped in his tracks when Sam turned around with a puzzled look. Dean shrugged. "Dude, don't even ask. I don't even know where that came from."

Sam laughed and turned from his brother and walked to the Impala clearly amused. "This place better be good Sammy."

"Caitlin says we'll love it."

"Maybe you should have invited Caitlin." Dean muttered as he opened the Impala's driver side door, the familiar squeaky sound comforting for some reason.

"What?" Sam asked once Dean had unlocked his side and he was seated on the Impala's leather front bench seat beside his brother.

"Nothing Sammy, nothing at all." Dean started up the Impala grinning at the rumble of the engine. There really was nothing like that sound. Laying his hand along the back of the seat Dean looked behind him and backed out of the motel parking space.

xXx

The restaurant turned out to only be a few blocks away from the motel. They could have probably walked the distance but then Dean didn't exactly feel like being too far away from his baby anyway, not after being mind controlled into freely giving it up to Andy not that long ago. He had felt nearly sick standing on the road and watching as Andy drove away with his precious Impala, especially so soon after rebuilding her. No, he was quite happy to keep the black Chevy with him at all times.

The night was rather quiet most people at home being later at night than what most people stayed out in this part of town. They had been lucky enough to find a car park a couple of doors down from the restaurant that Sam had directed him too. The restaurant itself was not very big at all and sported full glass front windows with old fashioned slanted writing displaying the restaurants name painted on the glass. It was a lot more nice and homey than the cheap diners, hotel bars and mini-mart's they usually bought their food from. From the look of the place Dean was willing to bet that it was run by an Italian family, it just had that type of feel to it. Inside the restaurant was much the same. There was a small polished wooden bar just to the left of the entrance that held glasses and beverages and the cash register and the tables were set up around the room with white and red patched table clothes, adding to that whole Italian theme. Dean was hard pressed right at this moment to remember when the last time they had been in a place like this to eat. It must have been a long while because no place really came to mind. At the back of the room, that looked bigger on the inside than it did from the outside, there were two doors, one to the left and the other to the right that looked like it led to the kitchen. Back further was a small hallway which Dean assumed was where the toilets would be.

Sam moved on a head of him as the brothers made their way further into the restaurant in search of a table. There were only a few other customers in the place all at various tables eating their choice of food. Dean smiled at two girls who were seated across from each other at a nearby table, earning him a smile back in his direction before the blonde one leant towards her brunette friend and whispered something. Trying not to be obvious about it Dean studied the girls. They only looked in their early twenties and definitely to his liking. He was stopped short as he bumped into Sam's back.

"Dude, what the hell?" They both asked simultaneously with a minor look of irritation on their faces.

Sam looked away from his brother and noticed the two girls sitting near where they had stopped and rolled his eyes, looking back at Dean. "Dean, for once ..."

Dean shrugged his shoulders. "I cant help it if I'm irresistible Sammy." He pulled a chair out from the table in front of him. "Is this where you wanted to sit?"

"I cant take you anywhere," Sam muttered under his breath as he took a seat across from his older brother. They were situated pretty much in the middle of the restaurant. There were the two young women just behind Dean to the left, an old couple sat in a booth against the wall to his left plus a small family a couple of booths down from the old couple. Sam watched the small family for a few moments. The family only seemed to consist of a man and his two sons and a few memories flew into Sam's mind of his own childhood with Dean and their father. The oldest of the two boys couldn't have been older than eight or ten and the youngest maybe five or six. He remembered back to the days when he and Dean had been that young. Things had been much simpler back then. There were no fights between him and his father. Dean and his dad had been his heroes and although their lives had been far from normal Sam had been content to be with his family. That had changed later when moving all the time and hunting had ruined his attempts at making friends with people outside their small circle of family and their fathers friends.

Dean turned to his brother with a confused look. The kid had gotten all quiet all of a sudden and had that thoughtful look on his face that Dean hated because he knew that whatever was going on in Sam's freaky head was something that he himself would not want to think about. Dean turned around to see what had captured his brothers attention and smirked when the first thing he saw were the two girls that quickly looked away from the brothers when Dean turned around. The smirk faded when he realised that it wasn't the girls that Sam had been staring at. The small family behind the girls was like a painful reminder of their past when they had just been kids and their father had taken them out for dinner. Times when they had almost been like a normal family for a couple of hours. Dean schooled his face back into a neutral look and then turned around to face Sam. He brought his lips up in a smirk as he leaned forward a little to get Sam's attention.

"Dude, I think they have a thing for you too. Maybe we can both get lucky tonight." Dean winked amused at the look of annoyed disgust on his little brothers fast.

"God Dean is that all you ever think about?" Sam complained. Sam wasn't against the opposite sex, far from it but sometimes he thought that Dean's brain totally lived downstairs full time.

"Suit yourself Sammy." Dean shrugged off his brown leather jacket and let it drape over the back of his seat. He leant back against the back of the chair casually and began playing with the napkin that had been on the table in front of him.

"So what do you think?" Sam asked, snatching the napkin out of Dean's hand before he could totally maser crate it.

"What do i think about what?"

Sam gestured around them to the restaurant with the hand he had stolen the napkin with. "This place."

Dean shrugged. "I dunno ... its a restaurant, what do you want me to say?"

"I dunno." Sam sighed and began looking for someone to serve them. He caught the eye of a waitress who was standing behind the bar making herself busy with this and that. "Let's order huh."

"I'm actually kinda hungry now." Dean commented.

Sam laughed and rolled his eyes. "I'd be surprised if you weren't."

Dean frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked in an insulted voice.

"Nothing ... never mind." Sam looked up and past Dean to the waitress who was making her way to them.

Dean was just about to look to see what had grabbed his brothers attention and found himself inches away from a slender female waist. His eyes travelled up and an instant smile appeared on his face. "Hey."

Sam inwardly sighed at the way his brother automatically put on the charm when faced with a pretty female. It was something that Dean had done for a long time to get what he wanted for the hunt or ... for himself and most of the time it worked without a problem. This time apparently it wasn't working and no-one was more surprised than Sam. It wasn't often that a woman didn't melt at just the sound of his brothers voice. Sam liked this girl. "Hey."

"What can I get you boys?" she flicked her hair back and then took her order pad and pencil out.

"Well whatever you have here i bet it tastes great even if its not on the menu." Dean flashed her his best smile but Sam almost laughed when it was basically shot down again with a long suffering look from the waitress.

"You'll have to excuse my brother ... what would you recommend?" Sam asked politely although he couldn't keep the smile off his face at the disgruntled look his brother gave him at that comment.

The waitress seemed to consider Sam's question. "hmm ... well there's the veil picarta, Linguini with clams ... oh and we also make a mean Italian pizza."

Sam looked at his brother asking silently what he felt like. Dean had a confused look on his face at the lack of melting he was receiving from the waitress but as usual his stomach didn't let him down. "I could really go for that pizza."

"Dean ..."

Dean glanced at his brother. "What?"

"We have pizza all the time. Dude we came here for an actual meal."

"You're kidding me right?" Sam had that look on his face. The look that clearly said that Dean knew better. That typical annoying little brother look and after a couple of beats Dean gave an exasperated sigh and looked back up at the waitress. "Fine ya know what. I think i'll have the linguini."

"Fine and what would you like?" the brunette asked as she wrote down Dean's order.

"Umm ... I think I'll go with the veal. Thanks." Sam handed her the menu and smiled politely.

"Can we get two beers with that as well."

"Sure thing guys. I'll bring you your beers and the meals should be ready shortly." She looked at both of them before walking away to the kitchen door to give the cook the new orders.

Dean shifted in the chair and looked at Sam. The boy was smiling like an idiot and that just annoyed him. "What the hell are you so happy about?"

"Dude." Sam chuckled. "You totally lost out there."

"Whatever dude."

Sam shook his head and pushed his chair back. "I'll leave you with your denial."

Dean frowned. "Where the hell are you going?"

"The bathroom but its okay Dean I'm a big boy I can go by myself." Sam said in a patronising tone as he stood up.

"Well aren't we the comedian tonight." Dean sniped back.

"Someone has to give you a break from that title occasionally dude." Sam didn't wait for his brother to respond. He walked to the back of the restaurant, past the kitchen door and easily found the men's room door.

Dean watched his brother go with a shake of his head. The kid could be such a stick in the mud sometimes and then there were times when he really thought he was funny. But Sam was joking with him and that didn't happen all that often anymore so Dean supposed he wouldn't complain too much. After all little brothers were meant to be pain in the asses. It was all in the job description and he had accepted that along time ago.

A beer being placed in front of him interrupted his thoughts and he looked up as the waitress placed Sam's beer on the table as well. "Thanks ..." Dean fished for a name.

"Theresa." she supplied after a moments hesitation.

"I'm Dean and that walking pain in the ass was my brother Sam." Dean introduced, wrapping his hand around his beer bottle but not taking a drink just yet.

"You boys aren't from around here are you?"

"Nope, just passing through really."

"I didn't think I'd seen you around here before." she commented more to herself than to Dean. "Well i better get back to the kitchen and see how your meals are coming along."

After Theresa walked away Dean took a sip of his beer and then twisted around in his seat when he heard a commotion behind him. The two little boys who had been sitting with their father were arguing over something, over what Dean wasn't sure. God, he'd had many arguments with Sam when they were kids. They had always been close but they were also brothers living out of a old Chevy and motel rooms. Fights were inevitable but their Dad had always stopped them before they escalated into full blown wars apart from the time he had put Nair in his brothers shampoo. That prank had been the prank to send Sam off on a murderous rampage and he hadn't spoke to him for longer than normal after that.

The brunette girl sitting at the table with her friend took his attention away from the family again when she gave him a seductive smile and a little wave of her hand. Dean smirked back and winked. The girl waved him over. Dean looked back towards the bathroom and silently wondered how long it took a guy to go to the bathroom. He shrugged his shoulders and pushed away from the table and walked over to the girls table, beer in hand. "Hey there."

"Hey." She smiled. "What brings you out tonight?"

Dean thought the fact that he was in a restaurant sort of spoke for itself but he wasn't picky. "My brother apparently thinks i need a feed."

"I think you look just fine." The blond replied extending her hand to Dean. "I'm Melissa."

Dean smiled and accepted her hand. He let her go a second later and pulled an empty chair over and sat down between them. "I'm Dean and this lovely lady would be ..."

"Samantha but you can call me Sami." Sami answered leaning forward in her seat.

Dean laughed. "No kidding."

"What?" Sami smiled curiously as to what Dean found so funny.

"My brother's name is Sammy."

"Wow what a coincidence." Melissa giggled.

"Yeah, its a miracle." Dean could already see the roll of Sam's eyes in his mind. He took a sip from his beer. "So girls ...

xXx

Sam washed his hands under the cold water from the faucet in the restaurant bathroom. He was sure this restaurant had been a good idea. They needed to just spend some time together as brothers. He knew that his supposed destiny with the yellow-eyed demon was weighing just as heavily on Dean as it was on him especially with their fathers suspicious death on top of everything. He also knew that Dean was terrified of losing anymore people that he loved and with Sam's new found obsession in the hunt it wasn't making things easy for the oldest remaining Winchester. Dinner in a nice quiet family restaurant wasn't going to fix everything but everyone needed to unwind sometimes and it was nice to be able to do it somewhere nice instead of the closest seedy bar like they usually did.

Sam looked up into the mirror at his reflection. His destiny scared the hell out of him which was why he was so determined to find answers. Being connected to a bad ass old Demon who had killed your mother and your girlfriend and countless others not to mention having psychic powers that were also connected to the son of a bitch couldn't be a good thing and the thing he wanted least of all was to be his brothers downfall.

Sam turned off the water and decided that it was about time he got back to his brother before he called a search party. Turning around Sam made his way to the door and opened it stopping short when he heard a commotion.

xXx

In the short time he had speaking to the girls Dean had found out that both girls were single and both studying at the same college. They had been childhood friends and Dean had come to the conclusion that Sami had a thing for his brother which he found both ironic and good. He thought it would be strange getting with a girl who had the same name as his little brother especially if things should get to a certain stage. Dean resisted the urge to shudder at the thought. Melissa was definitely more appealing to him now which suited everyone although he had the feeling that Sam wouldn't be in on the fun.

He was just about order the girls drinks when the front glass door slammed open and two guys wearing balaclavas barged in wielding 9 mm hand gun's. "Nobody move!" they both shouted. Dean winced when Melissa and Sami screamed and held their hands up. The younger of the two boys sitting in the booth started crying while his older brother looked on wide eyed. The youngest one scrambled under the table and into his fathers arms. The old couple clutched each other in fear at the sudden intrusion and Dean felt the absence of his .45 that was usually tucked into the waist band of his jeans. Sam had insisted that they were just going into a restaurant to eat and therefore wouldn't need a weapon. Well that was the last time he listened to his brother. This went to prove why it was prudent to carry a weapon on oneself at all times.

He had the sudden hope that his brother stayed in the bathroom although he knew that wasn't going to happen. Dean glared at the men. Now he couldn't even come out to eat in a restaurant without something screwing it up. This time they couldn't even blame it on the hunt unless these guys turned out to be possessed or something but he seriously doubted that. He was pretty sure that these idiots were simple normal human beings.

Dean thanked whoever was listening that the girls hadn't made a peep since the men entered, opting for keeping their heads down and their mouths shut but the same couldn't be said for the little boy who had tried to bury himself between his father and the booth chair.

"Shut him the hell up man before i shut him up for you!" Idiot number one shouted as he stalked over to the booth and pointed the gun at the man and his terrified child.

"Leave him alone!" The older boy shouted at the man and Dean had to give the kid credit. He had guts but that guts was going to get him killed if he wasn't careful. The kid was worried about his little brother. Dean could understand that sentiment.

The man's gun swung around to point towards the older kid and Dean felt himself automatically tense. "Keep your own mouth shut boy I'll i keep the both of you quiet ... permanently." Dean was about to stand up and say something but was beaten to the punch by the Idiot number two. "Man leave the kids alone. I don't want no-one to get hurt."

"Man, i hate snivelling little shits."

"I don't really care Ron! We're in enough trouble as it is now just calm the fuck down."

Ron's gun arm dropped to his side in frustration and he got face to face with his partner. "You just used my name you idiot!" he jabbed him hard in the shoulder.

"Shit!"

Dean couldn't believe what he was hearing. These two idiots barge in and hold everyone hostage and then start arguing with each other. Dean started to stand slowly. "Dean!" Melissa hissed. Dean groaned when he saw that it had been loud enough to bring him attention from the two masked men.

"Don't even think about it buddy!" Ron ordered his gun automatically coming up to aim at Dean's head.

"I'm not doing anything dude." Dean answered and was a little relieved when Ron relaxed his arm a little. The man seemed in a panic and a lot skittish. It wouldn't take much for a mistake to happen.

The door to the kitchen could be heard opening and Dean turned to look, seeing Theresa coming out with their food. What worried Dean was that his little brother trying to sneak into the room. Dean had no idea what the idiot was trying to do but he didn't have time to think about it as all of a sudden Sam charged at Theresa and spun her around, food flying everywhere. A gunshot rang out and the girls started screaming along with the kid. Dean's eyes widened in shock when seconds after the shot blasted through the air it connected with his brothers back sending the younger hunter and Theresa flying into a food cart before crashing to the floor in a heap. The screaming and crying faded out for Dean as the only thing that he could concentrate on was his brother lying too still on the ground with blood blossoming on the back of his shirt. _This could not be happening._

_TBC..._

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Gasp!!!! I shot Sammy!!! Anyone who knows me knows that I'm big on Dean!Hurt so this is a big first for me but I'm hoping for it to bring on a lot of angst and pissed off Dean hehe which is always great as well :) I really hope you have enjoyed it so far and i hope to post again soon. Reviews would be great they are one of my favourite things to find in my email hehe. Hope to see you soon :)

Luv Tara x0x


	2. Hostages

**Authors Notes:** The first thing i would like to say is **I'M SO SORRY** for the delay in posting an update. I have no real excuse which is even worse :( although my brother's 21st birthday plans are taking up a bit of time but thats not really an excuse in this case. So I'm sorry, sorry, sorry for the long wait and i wanna **thank each and every one of you for all you're wonderful reviews :D** they did alot for me and some of them did a lot to inspire something in this chapter that i just couldnt help myself with but ... well you'll find out when you read it hehe

Special thanks to **Angelustatt** (Broken Lands is heating up check it out if you havent :P) who helped alot with keeping me sane and reading it over for me which i appreciate more than you know mate:P and even a special thanks to her hubby who even helped out with a certain phraze that i could just not wrapped my mind around hehe Thanks Phill :D

For the Starsky and Hutch fans ... this chapter started straying a little from the original episode but the same theme that i was striving for is still present ... I hope hehe

Okay I'll stop blabbering on now and let you read. Thanks once again for all the awesome reviews and i hope you enjoy this chapter too ...

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**Chapter 2. Hostages**

Dean's feet were frozen to the floor. How had everything gone to shit so quickly? Maybe Sam was right. Maybe they were cursed. Couldn't they just simply go out to eat without getting maimed or finding a hunt? Dean felt like he couldn't breathe as he stared at his motionless brother on the floor of the small Italian restaurant. "Sammy..." he whispered brokenly.

"Nobody Move!"

"Ron!!! What the hell man?" the second gunman yelled in surprise at the sudden turn of events.

The order was screamed in a panic but the words were enough to bring Dean's world back with startling clarity and suddenly he could hear the girls crying amongst the kids whimpering and his legs were no longer stuck to the floor. It was like he had been in a bubble that had finally burst, freeing him. He ignored the shaking of his hands as he took a couple of steps towards where his brother was lying. Theresa was scrambling back out from underneath Sam. He eyes wide, locked on Sam's unmoving form.

"You!" Ron aimed his gun at Dean; the unmistakable sound of the hammer being pulled back stopped Dean in his tracks. As much as he urgently needed to get to his brother Dean knew that getting himself shot as well wouldn't help Sam. "I said nobody move!" Ron repeated loudly.

Dean's blood began to boil. He was so not in the mood to deal with this crazy trigger happy asshole that had shot his little brother. The oldest Winchester turned, glaring at the man who had just shot the only person he had left. Dean was consumed by anger and fear all at once as he stared down the barrel of the gun but not fear for himself, fear for Sam. "Shoot me if you want but I'm going over to my brother." he told them his gaze locked on Ron's crazed brown eyes.

"Buddy, if you don't sit down and shut up right now you'll be joining your brother." Ron threatened, his fingers flexing around the hand grip of the gun.

"Ron!!"

Dean wasn't waiting any longer. He turned around and took quick steps to where his brother was still lying on the ground. Theresa was on the ground backed up against the wall in shock, her shoulder length brown hair a mess of waves from the tumble she had taken. Dean skidded to a stop on his knees at his brothers back. One of his hands automatically reached for the bullet wound to his back. It was on the back of his left shoulder and from what Dean could make out by leaning over him the bullet was still lodged in his brothers body. Dean ignored the commotion happening behind him figuring that if he was going to be shot they would have done it already. He brought a disturbingly shaky hand to his brother's neck and searched for Sam's pulse, the blood flowing over the fingers on his right hand was making him feel nauseous. His brother's blood, God ... he should have stopped this from happening somehow. He should have seen it coming but no, what had he been doing ... flirting with two rather ditzy girls. He should never have gone out unarmed and he should have been more aware and if Sammy ... "Sammy?" Dean called quietly. He sighed when he felt an erratic heartbeat beneath his fingers. "Sammy, hey ..." he moved his hand from Sam's neck to his face and turned his head so that he was facing him. "Come on man don't do this." Dean mumbled. He could fix this. He had to fix this.

"Nicky?"

Dean's head whipped up at the sound of Theresa's soft spoken whisper. The girl was looking directly past Dean and at one of the gunman. She knew them? Just what the hell had they walked into?

Ron tore his attention away from Dean, who had looked at him in the eye and then directly defied him by going over to his brother, to glare at his partner in crime. The man had just pushed down his gun hand preventing him from doing anything else unplanned. He hadn't meant to shoot the kid, he had just reacted.

"What the hell are you doing? You could have killed her!"

"It wasn't my idea to come here!"

"Nicky?" Nick and Ron's heads whipped over past where Dean was trying to bring his brother around to where Theresa was standing up looking visibly shaken. "Is that you?"

Nick turned back to Ron. "Don't ..." he pointed a finger into Ron's chest. "... shoot anyone else!"

Ron shrugged but raised his gun when he saw that the older kid in the booth was getting antsy. "Everyone just sit still and shut up!"

Theresa looked down at Sam with a horrified look before rushing past the fallen hunter and walking over to Nick. "What the hell is this Nicky?" she asked in a harsh whisper. Nick grabbed her by the shoulders gun still in hand. "Are you okay?"

Dean reached behind him blindly for the closest table, gripping the table cloth and yanking it off the table, salt and pepper shakers crashing to the floor. He didn't take his eyes off his brother but judging by the whimpered scream coming from the girls, the trigger happy bastard had reacted to the sudden motion. "Come on, come on, come on." Dean whispered, bunching up the table cloth and pressing it to the bloody wound on Sam's back. The sudden pressure to the wound caused Sam to moan in pain. "Sammy!" Dean leant over his brother's shoulder to get his attention, keeping the pressure on his back. "Sammy, open your eyes man."

Nick looked past Theresa to where the injured kid was being tended to by his brother. He was glad that Theresa was okay but things had gone to shit fast and now someone had actually been hurt. They needed to get out of here fast. "We tripped a silent alarm in the bank we needed to get out of there fast I didn't think there would be anyone here."

"Nick, we're open 24/7. What the hell were you thinking?

"Since when?"

Theresa ran both her hands through her hair in frustration. "For the last 2 years and if you had been around you would know that!"

Ron rolled his eyes and turned toward his partner and the waitress but kept his gun pointed in the direction of the customers. "I hate to break up this happy little reunion but we need to get out of here Nick." he looked back towards the diners making sure that no-one was attempting to move.

Theresa's brown eyes got bigger as she looked from Nick to Ron and then back to Nick again. "You can't just come in here after two and a half years, shoot someone and leave."

"Nick, come on man!" Ron yelled impatiently.

Nick looked at Theresa apologetically and then let go of her shoulders and strode over to Ron. "Let's go!" He passed his partner and headed straight for the door. Ron backed away from the group with the smirk that was lost beneath the balaclava but could be seen in his movements. "Have a good night people." with that Ron turned and sped after his partner.

Dean sighed in relief as his brothers eyelashes fluttered, his eyes opened and closed a few times before remaining open and it was the best thing that Dean had ever seen. Right at that moment he didn't even care that the bastard that had shot Sam was escaping. As much as he wanted to lash out and get revenge that didn't come above making sure that Sam was going to be alright. "Sammy, are you with me kiddo?" Dean asked hoping his voice didn't show just how scared he still was.

Sam's breathing quickened as with consciousness came the awareness of the terrible pain in his upper back. "Dean?" his voice was barely above a whisper but the choked laugh that came from Dean indicated that he had been heard nonetheless. Sam blinked, breathing through his nose as he tried to assimilate what had happened.

"It's okay Sam ... you're gonna be okay ... okay?" Dean kept his eyes locked on his brother's. He heard chairs being pushed out and footsteps behind him and someone calling an ambulance. "Sammy!" he called when Sam didn't answer him. "Talk to me man."

"O...okay ... what happened?" Sam slurred. He felt a coldness seeping into his body and couldn't stop the trembling that started up. He tried desperately to remember what had happened but everything was blurry.

"You don't remember? You were shot ... in the shoulder but you're gonna be fine okay kiddo."

"Oh my God!" Dean turned and looked up at Melissa who had come to stand behind him, her hand covering her mouth in shock. "Is he okay?" she asked her voice small. Dean resisted the urge to ask if he looked alright. His brother had a bloody hole in his back for Christ sake, nothing was alright about that. He refrained though because he didn't want to scare Sam. "He's gonna be fine." he snapped and looked back down at his brother.

Sam was trembling harder now and his breathing was becoming laboured and Dean was getting scared and he thought that the trembling in his own limbs might rival his brothers although he was trying his hardest to not show it.

"De...Dean?" Sam asked his voice tight with pain.

The doors to the restaurant crashed open again followed by the sounds of sirens, Melissa screeched and dropped to her knees beside him gripping his arm. Sam jumped his eyes widening in shock. "It's okay ... it's okay Sammy." Dean turned to look towards the front of the restaurant. The two gunman from moments before were back and looking slightly more crazed and even panicked and suddenly the sirens he'd felt relief about before brought a new level of how screwed up this situation was becoming. It was obvious that they were just about to become hostages which meant that Sam wasn't going to get immediate medical attention like he needed. Dean felt his temper rising to a whole new level as he heard the shouted orders from the gunman.

"Shit!" Dean cursed as Ron, the man that had shot his brother raced past him and into the kitchen in search of the cook.

"Wh…what?" Sam asked his words a little slurred.

Dean turned to Melissa who was cowering next to him and gripped the arm that was bruising his arm and pulled it away placing it on the table cloth that was held to Sam's back. "Hold this here!" his hissed. He rolled his eyes when she shied away. "Melissa! I need you to help me out here okay ... come on." he pressed her hand against Sam's back causing the younger man to tense in pain. "Sammy, listen to me man." Dean tried to get Sam's attention. He didn't want to leave his brother's care to a stranger right now but he needed to assess the situation. The two men were arguing wound up tight and someone was bound to get hurt again if things continued the way they were going. "Melissa here is gonna stay with you for a bit okay."

With sudden alertness and strength that shocked Dean Sam reached out and grabbed his arm. "Dean ..."

"You're gonna be fine dude."

"Where ..." Sam shook his head and licked at his dry lips. "Where are you going?"

"Hey, it's okay man. I won't be far; I just wanna make sure no-one else is hurt okay." Dean stayed where he was until he was sure that his brother understood and was okay with what he was about to do. "Okay?"

Sam held Dean's gaze. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on but he knew that something bad was going down and he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted Dean to be any part of it. The other part of Sam registered that there were others in danger, children if he remembered correctly. "I'm o-okay. Go." he released his grip on Dean's arm. His head felt heavy and he dropped it back down to the floor and closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing slowly in and out.

Dean gave a nod to Melissa and then reluctantly left his brothers side and looked towards the front of the restaurant. Theresa was shutting the blinds to the front window and Sami was being ordered to join the old couple in their booth. Having everyone in the one place was obviously gonna make things easier for the two screw ups currently holding them hostage. Ron rushed past him on his way back from the kitchen and Dean was considering tripping him up so he could get the gun but a glance in Nick's direction told him that it wouldn't be a wise move just yet. The man was keeping a look out and being a lot calmer than his friend. Nick gave a slight shake to his head as if he had been sensing what Dean was about to do.

"I can't find the old man in the kitchen. He must have got out the back." Ron exclaimed loudly, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck. "What are we gonna do man? How'd the cops know we were here?"

Theresa rushed up to Ron angrily getting in his face. "Maybe it had something to do with you shooting up the place." She turned back to Nick. "I don't know how many times I have told you that working with him is a bad idea."

"Well this is all a moot point now. Can we get out the back?" Ron turned to Theresa. Now was not the time to be arguing about their mistakes.

The screeching of tires alerted everyone to the arrival of the cops outside at the front of the restaurant. "Shit Nick ..."

"Is the back door locked?"

"I'll go check." Nick took off towards the kitchen again.

"Barricade it best you can. I think we're in trouble." Nick ordered, receiving a nod from Ron before he went back into the kitchen. He silently asked himself how a simple bank break-in had turned into a hold up of his ex-girlfriends workplace with someone already injured. Things just seemed to be getting worse and worse. Thankfully everyone had done what they had been told but that kid's brother was looking like he was going to pounce any minute. He looked ready to kill someone. He would have to be watched.

Dean saw his chance once Ron had left the room. This other guy ... Nick was more level headed. If he was going to get anywhere it would be with this guy. Dean stood up slowly automatically garnering himself attention from Nick and Theresa who were in a heated discussion near the front of the restaurant. He brought his hands up in front of him in a surrendering manner when Nick's gun was pointed at him.

"You, get into one of those booths."

"Look dude I really don't care who you are or what type of shit you and your buddy have gotten yourselves into but my brother needs a hospital man." Dean said as calmly as he could, ignoring the order to take a seat at the booths. Nick raised his gun so it was pointed directly at Dean's head but the hunter stood his ground. "He has a bullet in the back, it's serious and if he doesn't get medical attention ASAP he's going to..." Dean hadn't meant for his words to falter but the thought of his brother dying was something that would always be inconceivable. It was unacceptable in Dean's mind and he lowered his voice so that Sam wouldn't hear him just in case the kid was listening. "...he's going to die." Knowing Sam, now that he knew that his brother was approaching the bad guys his ears would be on alert regardless of his state.

"There's nothing I can do about that at the moment." Dean saw a moment of regret in Nick's eyes and took some steps forward. He was now standing in the middle of the restaurant. He glanced at the kids in the booth with their father. The boys were looking up at him with big wide eyes that reminded him of Sam when he had been that age. Dean winked at them to try and ease their fear. Their father was giving him a nervous yet hopeful look.

Dean looked back at Nick. "Yes ... Yes you can." he took a couple more steps closer. "Nick? The cops are here and from the cooks 911 call they know shots have been fired. They won't leave until they get the solution they want." Dean explained although he was pretty sure that Nick was already aware of the fact. He lowered his voice again. "My brother doesn't have the time for you to fight it out with the cops, just let him and the kids go. It'll give you good points with the cops and dude the kid's don't need to be here."

"I..."

"Do you really want murder on your head on top of armed robbery?" Dean snapped a little unable to keep totally calm when his little brother was bleeding to death across the room.

"Nicky." Theresa placed her hand on Nick's shoulder. "He's right."

Dean held his breath as Nick glanced at Theresa. A silent mantra of _come on, come on, come on _ran through Dean's head as he waited to see what Nick would do next. Nick was silent for a few moments, watching the hostages trying to sit calmly in their booths. His eyes eventually went to where Sam was lying very still on the floor. Dean followed his gaze back to his brother and Melissa. Sam looked so pale and Dean fought the urge to run back over to Sam to make sure he was still with them. Melissa had tear tracks on her face but she was quietly whispering to him so Dean didn't let his panic override him.

He turned back to Nick his eyes impatient for an answer. "You don't need them." Dean closed his eyes and then opened them again. "Look at least let Sam go. He's needs a doctor, now! Please!" It wasn't quite begging. Dean Winchester didn't beg. Not on a normal day but then this wasn't normal even in Winchester standards. They dealt with creatures and ghosts not idiots who had no idea what the hell are they doing.

"Mister!"

Dean turned fast towards the kids in the booth when a sudden blinding pain erupted in his temple as he was struck with something hard. White flashed behind Dean's eyes just before he hit the floor, his world going black.

TBC ...

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Yes I am an evil, evil person leaving it at that spot :P As i was saying before some of your reviews inspired that very last bit. I had no intention of hurting Dean in this and im still not really going to hurt him. This is Sammy's time to be hurt lol but I couldnt have this story not have Dean unconscious for at least a little bit :P Now that i have had my Dean hurt fix lol i hope you stick with me because i promise you the next update wont be as far away this time :) thanks for your patience. You all rock!!!! 

Oh and plus check out my website **(link is on my profile page)** if you want its been updated a bit hehe

Tara x0x


	3. Where's My Brother?

**Authors Notes: **Hey guys ... took a little longer to get this ready for you than i thought but its sooner than my last update so im happy about that hehe. Thank you all so much for your reviews!! they are very VERY much appreciated and help me sooo very much!!! You are all awesome!!

I hope you enjoy this chapter. Once again for the Starsky and Hutch fans you will see a little similarity from the episode but there are major differences. This story is seeming to have a mind of its own lol. I had my brother Matthew's 21st birthday party on Saturday night which totally wrecked me on Sunday(basically just really damn tired hehe I'm proud that i dont get hangovers hehe) so i took today off work so i could get some fic done and coz i really just couldnt be stuffed going :P I'll shut up now and let you get into the story ... thanks once again to **Angelustatt** for reading through this and giving me her valuable opinion :) You're awesome :D

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**Chapter 3. Where's My Brother?**

It was amazing how much you took simple things like breathing for granted. Now that it was becoming harder to draw a breath Sam decided that he would never take it for granted again. One of the worse things he could think of was fighting for each breath but then maybe that was just because he was currently in that battle.

His body felt numb most of the time and it was easy for him to forget what had happened. That was until he tried to shift or the pressure on his back increased. Then it all came rushing back to him. He'd been shot. Dean had said he'd been shot. Where the hell was Dean anyway? Sam had been shot and Dean wasn't there. He couldn't feel him. The hands on him weren't Dean's. They were softer ... feminine even. Sam didn't really care who this woman was. He wanted his brother.

Sam squeezed his eyes shut tight when he felt a twinge of pain in his back, breathing hard. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this bad. In his life they had fought so many things, hunted so many creatures. Hunting was a dangerous gig as his brother would say and he couldn't remember the amount of times he had watched as a child his father and brother return from a hunt injured, sometimes seriously, sometimes superficial. Regardless of what type of injury or how serious Sam had hated it every single time. It was one of the reasons he had wanted to get out of that life. He had broken off from the family business and attended college. Dean and their father had always assumed that Sam had gone because he wanted to be normal and yes to a certain extent that was true but the overwhelming need to stop seeing his family mauled by the things they hunted.

Sam had had his own fair share of serious injuries once he had been old enough to hunt with his father and brother and it sucked big time but it still was nothing compared to seeing his brother or father near death. If you went looking for trouble it would find you and if your name was Winchester then it was bound to find you in a big way.

Current circumstances threw that theory out the window. All he had wanted to do was spend some time with his brother doing something normal like eating out at a restaurant. People did that all the time right? Then why the hell was he on the floor with a bullet wound. They hadn't been hunting. Hell Dean hadn't even been armed. Sam was really regretting making his brother give up his fire arm for the night. It would be the last time that he ever questioned Dean's need to carry a gun everywhere with him. He wasn't even questioning Dean's need to sleep with a big hunting knife. He was starting to understand his brother a lot more. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

Sam felt his breath hitch in his chest, like when you had a cold and really needed to cough. Sure enough he felt a cough niggling in his lungs and he coughed. The pain it evoked made him wish that he had of fought harder to not to. One cough led to another and then another. Pain induced tears formed in his eyes, one falling and trailing down his cheek as he tried to breath through the pain.

_" ... Just let him and the kids go. It'll give you good points with the cops and dude the kids don't need to be here."_

His brother's voice had a calming quality on him that nothing else could. If his brother was talking to someone that meant that he was okay.

He felt that soft hand on his brow, brushing his hair back in a comforting way just like his dad and Dean used to do when ever he got sick as a kid. The thoughts of his dad caused another tear to get loose and join the other in his hair. Their dad's death was still fresh and if he let his thoughts stray too much he would find himself caught up with painful longing to see the stubborn mule headed hunter again. For all Sam bitched and complained about the man he wasn't all bad. Yes he had been obsessed with the hunt but Sam would also remember the times that he had just been a father. He missed him badly. Especially at times like this.

"It's okay ...Shh." Sam started at the female voice that sounded closer than he thought she had been. Her soft quiet voice just served to remind him that Dean was missing and he was disturbed that he couldn't remember where his brother was. He had the distinct feeling that he should know. Dean had been with him before hadn't he? Her hand moved down to cup his cheek and he was surprised to find himself leaning towards her touch.

"De...Dean?" he croaked, his eyes remaining tightly closed.

"He's not far. He's fine."

Sam frowned and breathed through his nose. "Where?"

"Sammy he's fine don't worry about him." she assured. Sam risked opening is eyes again and found a blurry blonde figure leaning over him.

"Sam." he whispered.

"What?"

"My n-name ... it's Sam." Sam corrected. "Not Sammy."

"Sorry." Melissa apologised. "Your brother was calling you Sammy so ..." she smiled and shrugged.

Sam smirked. "He never listens."

Melissa moved in closer as if telling some great secret. "Neither does mine."

Sam winced as another painful spasm hit his back. He swallowed thickly against the nausea that he felt. "It's okay ... it's okay." Sam appreciated her encouraging words but what he really wanted was his brother right now. Dean had always been able to make him believe that everything was going to be alright. Even with the whole demon-destiny thing Dean had a way of making him believe that they were gonna be alright.

_"Mister!"_

The shout from the child's voice startled Sam making him jump, jostling his injury. He groaned in pain and opened his eyes to see Melissa looking in shock at something across the room, fear clear in her eyes. "No!" she cried moments after the familiar sound of a body hitting the floor.

Sam tried to turn to look in the same direction. He had the terrible feeling that something bad had happened. He needed to see his brother. He needed to hear him. "Dean?" Sam lifted his head and felt his world spin wildly. His breathing started coming in painful pants. Melissa turned back to him and with a shaking hand prevented him from trying to move further. Sam cursed his weakness. "Dean!" he managed to rasp louder. His brother wasn't answering and suddenly Sam was scared. He needed Dean right now.

"Keep still Sam," Melissa hissed, her eyes fearful.

"No! Where's ... my b-brother?" Sam struggled incoherently causing his already straining lungs to work harder, his breathing becoming more laboured. His movements making the pain of his injury make it self known to the point that he had broken out into a cold sweat. He strained his neck until he was able to look at the direction he had last known his brother to be. His breath caught in his throat at the sight before him.

Dean was lying in a heap on the floor between two tables. Sam could see a trickle of blood running from a nasty gash on his temple. Sam had the frightening thought for a moment that Dean had gone and gotten himself shot in the head but then it occurred to him that he hadn't heard a gunshot. Looking up Sam glared best he could from his position at the back of the man standing over his brother.

"Dean!" Sam's breathing quickened but his voice was still not above a whisper. The sight of his brother lying there so motionless had Sam's mind working in overdrive. Melissa's hands were on his chest stopping him from getting very far. His sudden panic wasn't helping his breathing and he dropped his head back to the floor again, his eyes not leaving his brother.

Nick stared in shock as Dean hit the ground. Theresa glared at Ron and brushed past Nick to kneel next to Dean, checking his head wound before looking up between the two men. Nick couldn't believe how even worse this situation had become. He'd always known that Ron was a hot head, a bit rash, but this ... this was ridiculous. Now they had one person seriously injured, another one knocked unconscious and the cops about to be banging on their door at any minute. "God damn it Ron!" Nick looked down at Theresa and pointed towards Dean. "Is he alright?"

Theresa sighed and glanced down at Dean. "You mean aside from the bleeding gash to his head?" She looked back up at Nick and shrugged. "He seems okay ... I think he's just knocked out but Nick..."

"He was coming at you Nick." Ron protested keeping an eye on the others in the room at the same time. "What did you want me to do?"

"No, he was just talking."

"Yeah well now he wont be causing any more trouble."

Theresa glared up at Ron. "You're a real jerk you know that?"

The front door rattling cut off Ron's response making all of the rooms occupants look towards it. _"This is the police ..."_

Ron and Nick shared a look that said it all. They were screwed. They would be going to jail for sure especially now that Ron had shot that kid. Ron broke off the gaze first and strode over to the booths quickly and yanked up the oldest kid by his jacket collar and pulled him towards him. "Dad!"

The kids father who had been placid until now shot up in his seat. "Leave him alone! You want to use someone then use me but let my sons be!" he made to make a move towards Ron but stopped short when Ron raised the gun to his son's head. "Don't!"

"Don't move and your kid will be fine." Ron glared at the man before dragging the kid across to the front door holding him like a shield in front of him. "Unlock the door kid." Ron nudged him. The kid nervously reached out and unlocked the door. Ron nudged it open with his foot, watching as the cops who had been around the door stood back "Get back!" he yelled, making the boy jump.

"Let us ago and no-one else will be hurt!" he called out to the cops that had arrived. He raised his gun quickly and pressed the barrel to the kids head when he saw the cops raise their own weapons. The kid whimpered and started struggling in his grip. "Don't try anything!" he screamed and slammed the door shut, throwing the kid to the ground. He locked the door and pulled the shutters down. Turning around he saw the kid glare up at him and then get up and race to his Dad and brother.

Ron walked over to stand next to Nick almost casually. "Great, now your threatening children."

"The cops will take us more seriously now at least. They aren't going to risk a kid." Ron argued like it was the most logical thing to do.

Nick sighed and pulled off his balaclava, revealing his black hair and smooth tanned complexion. Ron looked at him like he was crazy. "What are you doing?" he gestured to the balaclava

"We are so far beyond that now and its annoying the crap out of me." Nick turned to Theresa. "Is there somewhere we can put these guys?"

Theresa looked behind her towards the closed door at the back left of the restaurant. "Umm yeah the back office has a couch in it ... but Nicky seriously I think you should at least let his brother go."

"No!"

Theresa stood glaring at Ron. "I wasn't talking to you!" she turned back to Nick. "You might be a lot of things Nick but you're not a murderer."

Nick stood there staring into Theresa's big brown eyes, trying to ignore Ron in the background. He could see what she was saying but they had gone from trying to simply rob a bank to controlling a hostage situation. He never thought that he would have anything to do with anything like this. This was the type of shit you only saw in the news or in movies. He knew one thing. If the cops knew that someone was injured and possibly dying then they would be more desperate and Nick hoped that meant that they had more chance of getting what they wanted which was far away from here with no chance of being caught. The very thought of prison scared the hell out of him and he wasn't going to chance it.

"We'll move both of them into the office. Make sure you tie this one up good." Now that he had made the decision he was going to run with it. Ron nodded and yanked off his own balaclava giving a toothy smile. His blonde hair was sitting at all angles after being under the balaclava for a long time.

"Nick think about this..."

"I have Theresa and this is our best chance." He turned back to the small family and pointed at the father. "You. What's your name?"

When the man just glared Ron pointed his gun at him with a competitive smirk. "Answer the man."

"David." he ground out, gripping both of his children tightly.

Nick nodded at him. "David ... i want you to help Ron here move these boys into the office."

Sam's hearing was fading in and out but he could make out the bits and pieces and put them together. They weren't getting out of here any time soon and things were liable to end not so good. He really wasn't feeling all that good and all he could do was concentrate on drawing a breath and watching Dean. His brother hadn't even stirred yet and Sam was feeling weaker by the minute. He hated feeling so helpless and the loss of his brother was never more apparent than right now. He hoped to god that he was okay and just unconscious. He was pretty sure that was the case but then his concentration had been wavering in and out so it was possible he had missed something. He could vaguely tell that Melissa was still with him but he wasn't paying attention to anything she was saying but even in his state he could tell that she was frightened and doing her best to cope with what was happening.

Sam kept his focus on Dean. His eyes widened when one of the guys followed by the father of the two kids walked over to his brother and leant down to pick him up Ron at his shoulders and the father picking up his brothers feet. Dean was a dead weight between them and Sam was beginning to wonder just how hard he had been hit. Sam's breathing quickened again as Dean left his field of vision. What were they doing with his brother? He tried to sit up again only to find Melissa was still there preventing him from getting up. "Dean ... w-where are they t-taking him?" Sam closed his eyes and groaned at the pain the sudden movement caused him.

He felt Melissa's smaller hang grip his in a tight grip. "It's okay Sam, they're just moving him into the office i think."

"The office?" he slurred.

"Yeah." she ran her free hand through his hair brushing some of it our of his eyes.

Despite her reassurance Sam couldn't relax knowing his brother had been taken away from him. He didn't have to wait long before the two men were back but without Dean. Sam opened his eyes to find a pair of old boots next to his head. He looked blearily up and saw that Ron was standing over him. A sudden memory came to Sam. Ron had been the one that had shot him. He had also been the one to pistol whip his brother. Sam hated this man.

Ron shoved Melissa aside roughly and bent down and grabbed a fist full of Sam's shirt and yanked him into a sitting position. Sam cried out in pain squeezing his eyes tightly shut. His head spun with the jostling and upright position. Pain like a fire burned in his back and he felt himself break out in a cold sweat. He breathed harshly through his nose in a vain attempt to prevent himself from passing out or throwing up.

"Hey!" the voice was shouted from his left where David had been standing.

"If you have a problem then you carry the bastard in there yourself ... see if i care." Ron shrugged letting go of Sam's shirt.

Sam mentally cringed as he felt himself falling back, waiting to feel the impact of his back against the carpeted floor. The impact never came. He felt strong arms catch him. He couldn't stop the pained whimper that escaped him as he was manhandled. "What's g-going on?" he asked as he felt David reach under his knees and then lift him up. They stumbled a little before David adjusted to Sam's limp dead weight.

"Take it easy."

Every step was like agony and suddenly Sam couldn't think about anything else. His whole focus was on the pain. He grunted as he was almost dropped onto something soft. "Sorry but you're not exactly a lightweight." Sam risked opening his eyes again. Everything was a blurry mess and the light-headedness was making him feel sick. He felt his long jean clad legs being repositioned on the couch. "Dean?" he murmured. The hands on him paused what they were doing.

"Your brothers here Sam, he's fine." That wasn't David's voice. It was a female voice. Melissa was back with him.

"You, back out with your brats and you fix him up so he doesn't die on us and then get back out there!" Sam's eyes widened the inclusion of Ron's voice. The man was loud and his voice was grating and Sam wanted to shut him up. The sound of something smashing against the wall had Sam jumping. As his vision was starting to clear he saw Ron standing with smartass smirk on his face. "Cant have you making any phone calls now can we." he said holding up the remanent of what used to be a landline telephone.

"Hurry it up in here." he dragged David with him into the main room where Sam thought he could hear the sound of a telephone ringing but then he thought it was possible that the sound was just his ears ringing. He really wasn't sure about anything.

Sam watched Melissa as she sorted out tea towels. Her hands her shaking and she had tear tracks down her face. "Are ..." he licked his lips before continuing. "Are you okay?"

Melissa glanced up at Sam's soft voice with an incredulous look on her face. "Your the one with a bullet in your back."

"I'm tougher than i look." Sam responded in between breaths.

"I dunno." she smiled. "You look pretty tough to me. Your handling this a lot better than what i would."

"It's in ... the family genes to suck it up and tough it out."

Melissa simply smiled at him and then held up her hastily made bandages. "Lets get you fixed up before Mr. Charming comes in here and drags me away."

Sam sighed tiredly and closed his eyes. "If we must."

"We must. Although I have to tell you that i have no idea what I'm doing."

"You're doing fine so far ... thanks."

Melissa just smiled at him and then set to work. Sam closed his eyes. What seemed like only minutes later the door slammed open again causing Sam to jump. "What the hell is taking you so long? you've been in here for ten minutes.

Sam's brows furrowed. Ten minutes. Had he really been out that long. Melissa looked down at him with a relieved smile on her face. "You're awake. Try to stay awake Sam okay?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded and felt her squeeze his shoulder before she stood up and walked out of the room.

"Behave yourself boys." Ron said in that annoying smug voice that had Sam wanted to get up bullet wound be damned and kick his ass. He left Sam to his thoughts, closing the door behind him as he went.

Now that Melissa was gone Sam had full view of the whole room and what he saw didn't make him feel any better. His brother was on the floor sitting up against the wall. His head was slumped forward in unconsciousness and his hands were tied to a pipe that lead straight up to the roof. Sam recalled that Ron had said they had been in the room for ten minutes which meant that Dean had been unconscious for longer than what Sam was comfortable with. He needed his brother to wake up. Maybe Ron had hit him too hard and actually caused some serious damage. Lots of unpleasant scenarios ran through Sam's head as he tried to get up the energy to move or do something.

"Dean!" His voice was not much louder than a croak and not really effective at all. "Dean! Man come on." Sam pleaded. He knew he had lost a lot of blood and that he was slowly losing the battle with his body and he also knew that his best chance of getting out of here was Dean.

Seeing Dean slumped unconscious with blood running down his face from the gash on his head caused Sam's shivering to increase. He had almost lost his brother after their run in with the yellow eyed demon and they had just lost their father to the damn thing he couldn't lose his brother now. Not after everything.

Sam took a few steadying breaths and then attempted to sit up. "Argghh!" he cried out as the pain in his back intensified and he fell back down to the couch panting for breath. The world started to fade out and Sam realised that he was probably about to pass out again.

_She takes me away to that special place And if I'd stare too long I'd probably break down and cry ... Sweet child o' mine, Sweet love of mine  
_

Sam frowned as the familiar lyrics filtered through his brain. He found himself wondering why the hell he was hearing the lyrics of a Guns 'N' Roses song in his head at a time like this. His eyes snapped open later as he recognised the sound of a cell phone ring tone. Dean's latest ring tone. Dean's phone was ringing. Those two idiots hadn't thought to check them for phones or anything. Sam's new found alertness had his eyes opened wide, pushing his pain aside so that he could think. Someone was trying to call Dean. Sam needed to get to his brother. He needed to get to that phone in case the guys outside heard. He didn't know whether they would be able to hear that through the door but this was the first break they had gotten since Sam had gotten them into this situation.

Sam tried to get up again and almost managed a smile when he managed to semi sit up. His victory was short lived however when he couldn't hold himself up and tumbled forward off the couch. He hit the ground with a thud and a groan before his body gave out on him once more.

_She takes me away to that special place And if I'd stare too long I'd probably break down and cry ... Sweet child ...  
_

The ring tone faded out to nothingness as he succumbed to the darkness of blessed relief from the pain.

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Hmmm ... who could be calling Dean? I'm not gonna say coz i dont wanna give it away but i will say that **Ridley** and my mother had a hand in convincing me to add a certain person to this fic although it didnt take much to convince me lol can you guess who I'm talking about? lol I hope he will be a welcomed addition although i'm pretty sure he will be :P. I really hoped you like that chapter and i'll hopefully see you soon :) 

Tara x0x


	4. Not Another Loss

**Authors Notes: **Hey Guys! Thanks heaps for the reviews. You have all been so amazing and I'm glad ur liking it so far. For all the people that guessed Caleb ... you were spot on although i dont think i made it very hard to guess hehe.

I want to say a special thanks to **Angelustatt** again for reading through this for me and her opinion your opinion is invaluable mate :D and also guys **Sunday Bloody Sunday** written by **Gaelicspirit** and** Sojourner84** is getting fantastic. I'm really falling in love with their story. If you havent checked it out yet the link to sojourner's page is in my fav authors :D

Oh and I made a tribute video for my brother Matthew's 21st b'day last week which i posted on youtube ... not that any of you would be interested in that but just thought i would let you know its up on youtube should you be interested lol the link to my YouTuibe page is on my profile :D

Onto the story hehe ...

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Being psychic really did have its perks sometimes. Of course his father would disagree with what he was currently using them for but then his father wasn't here. Pastor Jim wouldn't have agreed with it either but sadly the pastor was no longer around to frown upon the way he chose to use his abilities. What was the use of having psychic abilities if they didn't benefit him sometimes.

The thought of the old pastor brought a momentary sadness. The memory of finding Jim Murphy covered in his own blood from a slashed throat would be imprinted in his mind for the rest of his life and something that he would never truly get over. Aside from his father, Jim Murphy had always been home. He had done as much growing up on Jim's farm as he had with his father in New York. It was painful to think that whenever he went back to the farm he wouldn't see the older man's kind face.

Jim wasn't the only family he had lost in recent times. John Winchester's death still had the ability to bring him to his knees. The Winchester patriarch had been his mentor, a father figure, a brother and a friend all rolled into one stubborn son of a bitch that he had loved fiercely. It didn't seem right that the man was gone. John was the type of person that you thought would be around forever and to have him gone was another blow and he wasn't sure how many more he could take.

A light touch on his arm brought Caleb out of his morose thoughts. He looked up into the startling blue eyes of the red headed woman he had been having a drink with. He'd known even before he had approached her that she'd noticed him. She was interested ... very interested. It wasn't uncommon for him to attract women and it was handy knowing what they were thinking.

He smiled at the attractive young woman in front of him and for the life of him he couldn't seem to remember her name. He knew she had introduced herself when he had first approached the bar and now he felt like a real jerk.

"Want a refill Shell?" The bartender asked looking at the redhead and Caleb sighed in relief. Her name was Shell. Now he remembered. He raised his eyebrows when she looked at him. "I'm not sure." Her eyes were locked with Caleb's in that way that screamed she wanted him badly. He didn't even need psychic abilities to be able to read the signals this woman was giving him. "What about you honey? Should we have another drink or would you like to have a nightcap at my place?" she pressed her body closer to Caleb's. "My room-mates not home."

Caleb smiled but not overdoing it. "A nightcap sounds great."

Shell turned back to the bartender, her long red hair flowing over her slender shoulders as she turned. "I think that's all for us tonight Frank."

Frank nodded and smirked in a way that told Caleb that this wasn't the first time he had seen Shell go home with someone. This woman new what she was doing and what she wanted and went after it. Caleb liked initiative.

He nodded goodbye to Frank and headed out of the bar with Shell on his arm. The fresh night air hit him and he sighed. It was a nice night out but he couldn't help but feel that something was off. He couldn't for the likes of him think what because everything had gone right tonight. He had finished off a small haunting and was about to go home with a gorgeous woman. He tried to ignore the niggling part of his brain that told him that something was terribly wrong.

Ever since John had gone missing in the first place he had felt something brewing and John dying had just confirmed that fear. It was ingrained in him to keep a watch out for the Winchester boys and he took that job even more seriously now that Jim and John had been killed. It was part of the reason he had sold his company and taken on hunting full time. He had given the journal Mac had given him to Sam. Mac had made the journal to account for Caleb's progress and had handed it over to his son quite a few years ago and Caleb hoped that it would help the youngest Winchester hone his abilities. That had been what had caused Dean to chuck a major hissy and ignore him. The boy wasn't dealing with his fathers death. Hell Caleb was barely dealing with all of it and giving up his company that he had worked so hard at and then handing over the journal, hunting full time had scared Dean. Caleb knew that Dean was scared he was going to turn into another John Winchester. That he was going to get himself killed and Dean couldn't take losing another person. He had stormed out of the diner that morning leaving behind a bewildered Caleb with a worried Sam.

So maybe it was Caleb's worry over the Winchesters that was making him uneasy. He would give Sam a call later to make sure that everything was okay. Sam was at least still talking to him.

The couple stopped in front of the big black truck. "Is this yours?" She asked, running her hands over the hood.

Caleb resisted the urge to say _no its not. _It still felt weird driving John's truck. It brought a lump to his throat whenever he saw it. The truck just screamed John Winchester and if he really concentrated he could still smell John's familiar scent inside.

To top off the whole picture Pastor Jim's rosary beads hung from his rear-view mirror. It was a painful reminder of what they had lost but in a way having the truck and the beads gave him a sense of family and home that he needed.

Caleb nodded and shrugged out of the depressing thoughts. He really did need to get a hold of himself. How would he protect the boys if he was always wallowing in grief and self pity. He was the future Knight of the Brotherhood, John's successor. He would do the name proud. He smirked as he thought about what John might have had to say about his current state. He was positive the man would have told him to suck it up and move on. _Easier said than done Johnny._

Caleb unlocked the truck and helped her step up and then jogged around to the drivers side and opened the door intending to climb in. A sudden white hot flash of pain in his head caused him to gasp and grab his head tightly in his hands. He blinked quickly and held onto the open driver door to keep his balance as he tired to work out what the hell had happened.

"Caleb?" Shell called leaning across the seat to get a look at him through the open driver door. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Caleb answered automatically praying that what had just happened had just been a freak headache and not an oncoming vision.

Suddenly the pain was back pounding in his skull like it was trying to bash its way it out. His hands shot back up to his head at a sudden onslaught of explosions going off behind his eyes. Relinquishing his hold of the truck door Caleb no longer had the ability to stay upright and he crashed hard to his knees on the hard cement car park, his head missing the sidebar of the truck by millimetres. He cried out as the vision took hold and collapsed to the ground in a foetal position, Shell's frightened voice only a background to the roaring wind like sound in his head.

_The sound of the gunshot, deafening... _

_Sam propelled forward by the bullet..._

_Dean's wide eyes, denial... _

_Sam crashing to the floor..._

_Dean was consumed by anger and fear all at once as he stared down the barrel of the gun. "Shoot me if you want but I'm going over to my brother." he told them his gaze locked on Ron's crazed brown eyes... _

_"Sammy?" Dean called quietly. He sighed when he felt an erratic heartbeat beneath his fingers. "Sammy, hey ..." he moved his hand from Sam's neck to his face and turned his head so that he was facing him. "Come on man don't do this."..._

_"You don't need them." Dean closed his eyes and then opened them again. "Look, at least let Sam go. He's needs a doctor, now! Please!"..._

_A boys shouted warning, "Mister!"..._

_A gun hitting Dean's temple hard, Dean falling, crashing to the ground in a boneless heap..._

_"No! Where's ... my b-brother?" Sam struggled incoherently causing his already straining lungs to work harder, his breathing becoming more labour. His movements making the pain of his injury make it self known to the point that he had broken out into a cold sweat ..._

_His head was slumped forward in unconsciousness and his hands were tied to a pipe that lead straight up to the roof ... Dean slumped unconscious with blood running down his face from the gash on his head ..._

_Dean raging..._

_Sam fading..._

_"No Sammy!" ... a broken plea ..._

_Sam's lifeless eyes ..._

_Dean's tears ... his pain ... his anger ..._

_Sam's dead lifeless eyes ..._

White hot flashes raced across his vision erasing the images that had been slammed into his mind by the vision. It was hard to form a coherent thought when he still felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his skull. Sammy ... he'd died. "No, no, no." he muttered. His eyes were still tightly shut as he waited for the headache to ease a little. He could feel someone holding onto his upper arm and calling his name and he briefly remembered that he'd been with that red head ... Shell. "Shit!" he cursed uncurling from his protective position on the dirty hard ground.

"Caleb, are you alright?" Shell's voice was panicked.

The psychic really wondered why everyone automatically asked that stupid question when it was quite obvious that the person wasn't. Caleb waited for his breathing to get back to normal and then blinked his eyes open coming face to face with a worried blue eyed stare. "I'm fine." Using his arms Caleb got himself to his knees and then pushed off attempting to stand. After almost face planting into the side of the truck Caleb got a handle of himself and started to feel steadier. Shell was still hovering and Caleb regretted that he was going to have miss out on that nightcap because after that vision he could definitely use that drink.

"What the hell happened? Are you epileptic or something? should I call an ambulance?"

Caleb gripped both her shoulders stopping her barrage of questions. "I'm fine but I'm gonna have to take a raincheck on that drink."

"What? Why what's going on?"

"Nothing ... I just get bad headaches sometimes and I really think I should just go home ... raincheck?"

Shell still looked worried but then smiled and stood closer and pecked him on the lips. "Sure honey ... anytime."

It was a shame but getting laid was totally off the nights agenda. What the hell had those boys gotten into now? Could he not leave them by themselves for a few days without one of them getting hurt or almost killed? Some knight he was turning out to be when he couldn't even keep the future Guardian and Scholar safe for more than a few days or weeks at a time. Caleb was sure that John had never had this much trouble with Jim and Mac.

Caleb jumped up into the truck and revved the engine, shaking the cobwebs out of his head. Sam's lifeless eyes were still haunting him. He'd been shot but by what? It was hard to tell because the vision had been so fast but if Caleb didn't know better he would have said that he'd been shot by a person. A normal person. A soon to be fucked up normal person if Caleb had anything to say about it.

Caleb started driving, the steering wheel comforting in his hands as he sped away from the bar. He looked up at Pastor Jim's cross and swallowed another lump that formed in his throat. "Look after them until I get there Jim." He whispered.

Five minutes past before Caleb realised that he had no idea where he was supposed to be headed. Sam had mentioned them being in Worthville Kentucky when he'd last spoken to him on the phone but beyond that Caleb had no idea where they were even staying. He was close enough that he was positive he would be in the town in half an hour at the most. He just hoped that half an hour would be good enough. He knew for a fact that Worthville only had a population of about two hundred odd people which meant there could only be a few places they would be staying. It shouldn't be too hard to find them, not if he used his abilities and this time he knew that Jim nor his father would frown upon how he chose to use them.

He reached into his jacket pocket for his cell phone and hit the speed dial for Dean's phone. He didn't care whether the stubborn bastard wasn't talking to him at the moment. Something bad was going to go down if it hadn't already and Dean would just have to get over his issues and answer his damn phone.

Placing the phone to his ear Caleb heard it ringing and started getting anxious when no-one was picking up. "Come on Deuce answer your damn phone man." he cursed when the phone continued to ring out. Finally it clicked over to Dean's voicemail and Caleb cursed. "Deuce, man if you get this call me back ASAP okay ... I mean it. I don't care what's crawled up your ass. Call me!"

Caleb closed his phone and threw it onto the passenger seat. Re-adjusting his grip on the steering wheel Caleb tried to reach out to Dean with his mind, knowing regardless of how things were between them that his bond with the younger hunter was incredibly strong. His grip on the steering wheel tightened. Something was wrong. If he didn't know better he would think Dean was unconscious. His worry increased. He couldn't be sure but knowing their luck it meant that something was terribly wrong.

He reached out for Sam. The powerful onslaught of pain and confusion he felt was staggering. He closed his eyes and the truck served. Tightening his hands on the steering wheel Caleb pulled the truck back under control and took a few steadying breathes. Sam was in trouble ... a lot of trouble. Caleb was finding it hard to contain the panic he felt and the only thing he could thing of was that both boys were still alive and that gave him time to do something ... he hoped.

Putting his foot down harder on the accelerator Caleb prayed that he got there in time to get the Winchester's out of whatever trouble they had gotten themselves into this time. He didn't care what it took but he was going to save them. He had promised a long time ago to always look out for them and he was damn well going to keep that promise especially with Jim and now John gone. Caleb pushed the truck as fast as he could suddenly wishing that his psychic abilities included teleporting.

TBC ...

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Well there ya go, the introduction of Caleb :D Boys will be back next chapter which i would like to have up before my birthday on Friday since my weekend will be packed out. Wish me luck and thanks again to all the reviews. You are all awesome :D

Tara x0x


	5. Stay With Me

**Authors Notes:** Hey guys! I know I have been a very very very bad updater and I'm very sorry. Work hasnt been kind to my writing time among other things but I have felt very bad because all you guys have been great and so supportive so once again I do apologise. My writing was put aside the week before my birthday for a special project for **Ridley C. James** and the **Brotherhood.** I made a new Brotherhood **Video** promoting Ridley's new and up coming Fic called **"To The Victor Goes The Spoils"** here is the link spelt out if you are interested ...

**http(colon)//www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v(equalsign)xWHLXodGxew**

There is also a link at my site to download the vid as well should you wish to ... the link to my site is on my profile page.

I hope this chapter was worth the wait and god I'm sorry for taking so long. Thanks to **Angelustatt **again for reading it over a few times as I wrote this!! You're a legend :D Thank You to all the readers and reviewers you all really make my day and thanks for all the birthday wishes ... I had a great birthday :D

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**Chapter 5. Stay With Me**

The sound of the restaurant telephone ringing near the bar caused Nick and Ron to share a nervous look. The trouble they were in just kept getting deeper and deeper and Nick was nervous as hell to be dealing with the cops but he knew that he definitely didn't want Ron talking to them. The guy was too highly strung and likely to make the situation even worse than what it was.

Pointing at the phone with his gun Nick gestured to Theresa. "You wanna answer that for me."

Theresa crossed her hands over her chest in an annoyed fashion. "This is your hold up Nick. You answer the damn phone."

"Just do as he says Terri." Ron was standing across the room by the end booth keeping an eye on the quiet but frightened hostages. The shrill ringing of the telephone was starting to grate on him and if one of them didn't answer it he was tempted to storm over there and answer it himself.

Theresa stared across at Ron defiantly. She had never liked Ron and had tried to have as less to do with him as possible but that was hard to accomplish when the man happened to be a good friend of your younger brother and boyfriend at the time. She could never understand why Nick spent his time with the loser. He had been nothing but trouble for as long as she had known him and she still held him responsible for why her brother was sitting in a jail cell right now instead of being at home with his family. A robbery gone bad and her brother ended up taking the blame for both himself and Ron. It was one of the reasons Nick and her had broken up and he had left. She wasn't willing to tolerate the bastard at all and she had thought that she wouldn't ever see him again until him and Nick had stormed into the restaurant and things had gone to hell once again. Ron was bad news but Nick was generally a decent guy if you took aside the fact that he was easily swayed by getting things the easy way ... hence him in a robbery with Ron. Nick had his short comings but he had a heart ... at least he had that last time she had seen him.

"My name ..." she grit out "... is Theresa and get the damn phone your self."

"Theresa, please." Theresa turned back to Nick with a soft sigh. "Please." he pleaded again.

"Fine!" she relented, walking over to the phone hanging on the wall. "But it's not me they're gonna want to talk to." She picked up the receiver, not surprised to hear the voice declaring to be a member of Worthville's Police Department. Not a lot of action happened in this small town aside from her brother's escapade a few years ago. It was what she had always liked about this town but she knew that this hostage situation would most likely be something new for them. "Hello."

Nick watched anxiously as Theresa spoke into the phone, glancing at him and Ron a couple of times before handing the phone out to him. "It's Sheriff Richardson. He wants to talk to you."

Nick walked forward hesitantly, feeling like a fish out of water in this situation. Taking the phone from Theresa Nick slowly brought the receiver to his ear, his eyes not leaving hers. "Sheriff."

xXx

Dean coughed and shifted slightly. He groaned at the stiffness in his muscles and the pounding in his head. Suddenly he was fourteen again, lying flat on his back on the baseball field with his head split open. His head had felt the same back then as it did now. Before he had realised what was going on the baseball had clipped in the head knocking him unconscious and if it wasn't for the serious lacking of fresh air, Caleb's insistent voice demanding he open his eyes and Sam crying then he could have almost believe that he was back on that field. He had scared the shit out of Caleb and Sam that day and ended up with a 24 hour stay in the hospital. He wondered what he had done this time and where Caleb and Sam were this time.

He suddenly felt a sense of loss. Caleb wasn't around because he had been pushing the psychic away and Sam ... SAM!! His mind screamed Sam's name as he remembered that something was terribly wrong. Something was wrong with his brother. Almost like he could hear Caleb's voice from all those years ago in his head ordering him to open his damn eyes Dean pried them open, he breathed in and out slowly to help him move past the headache that just seemed to grow with awareness.

He could feel blood drying on the side of his face. He tried bring his hand to the wound but was surprised to find that he couldn't move his arm. Trying harder Dean realised that he couldn't move either of them. They were restrained above his head and rather tightly. He tired for a few moments to get free. If there was one thing Dean hated it was feeling trapped or tied down, literally or figuratively.

Despite the room being shrouded in darkness Dean knew that he wasn't in the same room he had been in when he'd been hit from behind. Upon first initial inspection from his position on the floor Dean realised that he had obviously moved into what looked like a small office.

There was a small window high up on the back wall and Dean knew that just by looking at it that there was no way he would be able to climb through it. Of course that was a moot point because he wasn't going anywhere while he was tied down and even if he could get out of his bindings he wasn't leaving without his brother. Under the window sat a bulky wooden desk filled with papers, folders and a rather ancient looking computer. Bringing his attention away from the useless desk Dean looked straight across him and saw a couch against the wall. It was what he saw on the floor in front of that couch that stopped any other thoughts from entering his mind. There was a long human shaped lump lying scarily still.

"Sammy..." he whispered, almost like he was afraid if he disturbed the silence in the room their current predicament would spiral out of control. "Sam!" Dean hissed.

He desperately wanted to hear his brother say something, anything that would stop the fear that was pounding in his heart. Sam was too still with only moonlight shining in from the window as his light Dean couldn't even tell if he was still breathing.

He had the sudden thought that he would know if his brother would dead. He wasn't psychic like Sam, Caleb and even Mackland but he'd always had like a sixth sense when it came to Sam. It was like he had always been able to tell when the kid was upset or hurt. He would damn well know if his brother was gone. He clung to that idea when he still got no response from the youngest Winchester.

He needed to get out of these ropes. He started tugging as hard as he could, the desperate need to get across the room to his brother dulling the pain of the ropes digging into his wrists. After nearly rubbing them raw Dean stopped and took a few calming breathes. He wasn't accomplishing anything but severely chaffing his wrists. "Sammy!" he called out no longer caring if he brought attention from the guys on the side of the office door.

"Dude, wake up damn it! Please." he pleaded as he wrapped his hands around the pole he was tied to. Mentally counting to three Dean pulled himself up to his knees using the pole. His arms were awkwardly twisted now but he still tried to get loose, using his teeth at one point but it was no use. Ron had really gone to town on the ropes and now all he was accomplishing was a cramping pain shooting up his arms because of how they were awkwardly twisted.

With no choice but to give up in defeat or chew he's freakin' arm off Dean twisted back around to face Sam and slumped down against the wall. He had a knife in his boot but right now that was about as useful as Joshua's black dog detector.

Dean jumped slightly when he heard raised voices out in the other room. The door was muffling the voices but Dean could hear the irritation in the tone and then the distinctive sound of a child crying. Dean's temper rose as the jerk outside continued to terrorize the kids. How the hell did something like this happen in a town so small and how did they manage to get caught up in what Dean assumed would have been a rare occurrence in Worthville.

Dean shifted again, wincing at the stinging in his wrists. He'd never been that good at sitting still, especially not when someone he cared about was in trouble or hurt. Looking back at Sam Dean silently willed for some movement. It didn't matter how little the movement was Dean just wanted some sign that Sam was still with him.

He couldn't pull his gaze away Sam. "Sam!" he called out again. "Wake up!" He really wanted to punch something. He pictured all the different ways he could cause serious harm to Ron as he watched his brother, almost missing the movement.

Dean's eyes widened and he leaned forward he was brought up short by the ropes. Had he imagined it? Was he so desperate to see a sign from Sam that now he was seeing things? "Sammy?"

Dean smiled in relief at the grunt he received in return. "Oh thank god." Sam was still with him. "Sam, wake up!" With a lot of effort Sam turned his head towards Dean, the moonlight from the window silhouetting his face. "De..."

"Dude!" Dean exclaimed. "You scared the shit out of me."

Sam frowned at the image that analogy evoked. "Eww."

"What?"

"What ... w-what happened?"

Dean was a little concerned that Sam had still yet to open his eyes and from what Dean could see it was taking a massive effort to pull oxygen in. Dean hadn't been this scared since his father had died.

He suddenly wished that he hadn't been such an ass to Caleb. They could have really used the annoying psychic's help right now. Right now especially when Dean was so fucking useless. His dad was dead now because of him and now Sam was dying across the room from him and he couldn't do anything about it. A surge of irritation ran through him at wanting the older hunt to come and fix everything. Hadn't he been bitching to Sam that they didn't need Caleb keeping tabs on them so much.

"You were shot remember."

"I thought ..." Sam licked his lips. "I thought y-you were..."

"I'm fine Sam." Dean interrupted. "How'd you end up on the floor big guy?"

Dean's worry scaled a new height when Sam didn't answer him. "Sam?" he called a little louder than what he was talking before.

Sam's eyes popped open for the first time. The panic and fear he cold clearly hear in that one word had Sam on edge. He had a desperate need to quell his brother's fears and put his heart at ease but that was hard to do with a bullet in the back and you were kinda afraid that you were in trouble as well. "What?"

"I said ... how'd you end up on the floor?"

"I umm ... I heard your ... phone ringing."

Dean's eyes widened in realisation. "I wondered why I had 'Sweet Child of Mine' stuck in my head."

Sam began to roll his eyes but was interrupted halfway by a cough. He could feel something warm and wet splatter on his lips. "As l-long as you're ... not dreaming about ... umm ... Axel" Sam joked, actually glad that he had remembered the guys name and hoping that the joke would cover up just how bad things were. "Because then I would really be worried."

Dean wasn't stupid, or deaf. He had heard Sam's cough and heard the wetness in it. The situation had just gone up to a scary new notch. Dean tried pulling on his restraints again making his eyes water with the stinging and scraping sensation it caused. Dean wished he could somehow reach the light switch. He really wanted to see his brother but in the same instance he really didn't want to. Seeing Sam in the light would bring home how really screwed they were at the moment and Dean's obvious failure. He had promised his father before he had died that he would watch out for Sammy and what a great job he was doing of that too. But then he'd promised his father another thing too and Dean knew deep down he'd never be able to fulfil that promise either.

"I was actually dreaming about you ... and Caleb."

Although Sam's eyes were now shut again he looked like he was concentrating on holding himself together Dean could see the amused horror on Sam's face in the moonlight. "I-I don't ... want to know man."

"Not like that bitch. Remember that time I got hit in the head by the baseball?"

"Mmmhmm" Sam clarified, feeling the pull of unconsciousness beckon him. "I thought ... it'd split your ... head in ... two."

"Felt like it." Dean frowned at Sam in concern. "Stay awake, Sammy!"

"mm...awake."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "That'd be a lot more convincing with your eyes open college boy."

Sam sighed. "Tired." he slurred.

Dean sat up straighter. Sam was fading on him. "Dude, I know you're tired and you don't have to do anything else just stay awake okay ... okay Sammy?" Dean was at a loss and suddenly chewing off his arm to get out wasn't such a bad idea.

A sudden image of Josh Brolin sawing off his thumb in 'Night watch' to get out of the hand cuffs and save Ewan Mcgregor and Patricia Arquette from a sick, twisted and psychotic Nick Nolte came to his mind. He had cringed during that part of the movie but had a new respect for Josh Brolin's character after that. He knew damn well that if it came down to it and his brother was in trouble he would have done the same thing. Of course that movie reference didn't mean shit right now because the closest sharp object was in his boot unreachable and if he did somehow manage to get it he would be hacking at the ropes, not his thumb.

"You don't even have to talk Sam just ... just stay with me okay? Please?"

"I'm tr...trying."

Dean nodded even though Sam wasn't looking at him. "I know you are buddy."

The commotion in the main room picked up and Dean clearly heard the words 'shut him up' at one point. Dean had suggested they kill a few human's in the past like Roy La Grange before he found out he wasn't controlling the reaper and Max Miller because ... well he'd been a pasty faced psycho but at this moment he'd never wanted to kill someone like he did this guy. He was everything Dean hated in a person and he'd shot his brother. Guys like Ron though always made mistakes and Dean was going to make sure that he was there when it happened and then he was going to unleash on the bastard. He just prayed that particular moment happened before it was too late for Sam.

"Dude, listen to me. I swear that if you hang on man I'll revoke the 'driver picks the music' rule for a whole week."

Sam raised an eyebrow. Well he thought he'd raised his eyebrow. He wasn't entirely sure of anything but the pain and difficulty he was having keeping conscious and breathing. He didn't have a lot of energy left but the desperation and fear in Dean's voice caused him to hold onto reality just that little bit tighter.

"A m...month."

"A month? Damn Sammy you drive a hard bargain." Dean uselessly pulled at the ropes again in hopes that they might have gotten looser. "You got yourself a deal. No checking out now."

Sam sighed tiredly. "W-wouldn't dream of't."

Dean rested his gaze once again on his brothers face at a loss of what to do. The problem was that he _couldn't_ do anything. He was stuck there watching his brother suffer which was one of the worse things he could imagine.

The commotion was getting louder outside the office and Dean was almost wishing that the cops would just come in and take care of the problem. Dean didn't like cops and he supposed that was because his father had brought him up to stay clear of them in their line of work. Now with what happened in St. Louis and the fact that Dean Winchester was supposed to be dead Dean tried to steer clear of them even more. Right now with Sam bleeding to death Dean didn't give a shit who fixed this problem just as long as someone did. He hated to admit it but this time he needed help.

_"That's it! I'm sick of the little brat!"_

Dean's body tensed as that shout came through loud and clear followed by a lot of muffled cursing. Not knowing what was going outside the room was killing Dean. Even more so when he heard a startled scream. Footsteps could be heard coming towards the door and Dean realised that he wasn't going to have to wait any longer.

Sam flinched when the door to the office was wrenched open and Dean grit his teeth in anger. He wasn't at all surprised to see Ron standing there but was he wasn't expecting was the small crying, wriggling child he held in one arm. The kid was obviously the youngest of the brothers he had seen earlier. He was sobbing and kicking out for all he was worth and Dean couldn't help inwardly cheering him on, hoping that one of those kicks would hit home in a very sensitive place.

Ron sneered when he saw that Dean was awake. "How's the head princess?" he stepped over Sam and unceremoniously dropped the kid to the floor by the desk.

"Why don't you come over here and I'll tell you." Dean challenged. At this point Dean would be happy with a well placed kick but he doubted that Ron would be stupid enough to come too close ... then again. Dean mentally shrugged. It wasn't like the guy had shown too many brain cells so far.

"Terrorising little kids again?" Dean taunted. "Your mother must be so proud."

Ron laughed but otherwise ignored Dean as he started looking for something. The kid had curled up in a ball in between the couch and the desk and the more he cried the more Dean wanted to rip Ron's throat out. Kids had always been a soft spot for Dean and seeing this one so scared was firing up his anger for the situation and the jerk that was rifling around the desk.

"You know you're not going to get away with this." Dean continued despite the lack of acknowledgment he was receiving. "I could tell right from the moment I saw you that you weren't the brains of your little two man team. You're basically just the crazy assed trigger happy moron that gets himself and his partner killed. You should really watch more television. You would learn a lot." Dean rambled.

Ron snorted as he looked for something around the room that was obviously evading him. "Say's the guy who's tied up right now." after a moment of searching and coming up with nothing Ron bent down and picked up the now useless phone that had been ripped out of the wall. "Looks like the will have to do." he shrugged and crouched down in front of the kid. "Give me your hands!"

When the kid failed to comply to the request straight away Ron reached out and wrenched both of the kids hands towards him making the kid cry out in fear and pain.

"Did you train to be such a total ass or does it just come naturally with you?" Dean almost growled.

"You know …" Ron tightened the telephone cord around the kids small wrists, hoping it would hold. It wasn't the most reliable form of restraints but he didn't have a lot to work with. He turned around to face Dean when he was finished securing the kid to the desk legs. "…for someone in your position you got one hell of a smart mouth on you."

Dean's green eyes hardened. "You're just digging yourself deeper and deeper ya know."

"Oh really?" Ron stood back over Sam and crouched down next to Dean so that he was eye level, wisely avoiding the hunters legs. "And just what are you gonna do about it?"

Ron's face was only inches from his now and Dean wanted nothing more than to wipe the smartass sneer off his face. "I can promise you right now _Ron_, You're not walking away free. I will personally make sure of that."

Ron laughed and Dean cocked his head slightly to the side. "What are you laughing at you little bitch?"

"Oh I just think that's a might hard promise to keep considering you're the one tied up right now."

Dean didn't miss the familiarity of the words. They weren't all that different from the words he had spoken to Gordon Walker when he had left him tied up in that farmhouse.

Ron slapped Dean's cheek mockingly and then stood. "You behave now." He stood up and walked around Dean widely just in case the bound man tried to kick out. If the look on his face was anything to go by then it was quite likely.

Looking down as he went to step over the prone form of the guy he'd shot Ron sent a smirk Dean's way, kicking Sam as he stepped over him.

"Hey!" Dean shouted. The feelings of rage fell over him as soon as he heard the pained grunt from Sam

Ron laughed at the incensed look he received from Dean and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

It was pure anger that had Dean pulling at his restraints again. If it was the last thing he did he was going to get his hands that guy and teach him exactly why no-one touched Dean Winchester's little brother. The child's sobbing brought Dean out of his haze. He had almost forgotten the boy was there. Dean looked down at Sam and wanted to kill Ron all over again for the frown of pain he could see on his brothers sweaty face.

TBC ...

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Thanks guys for reading and sticking with me and the sucky time between updates. I hope you continue too and I hope to not make you wait so long next time if i can help it :D I love to know what you all think :D 

Tara x0x


	6. Trust

**Authors Notes:** Sorry again guys. Finding time to write coherently has been a bitch to put it bluntly. Work is not being kind to me at the moment. But again i would like to thank you all so very much for all the support and reviews :D It really does make this even more enjoyable :D Major thanks to Lisa (**Angelustatt** - check out her stuff if u havent **Broken Lands** is getting too good. I'm hanging off the edge of my seat hehe) who helps out so much by reading over every little bit. She's a legend and I so cant wait til I finally meet her next weekend (20th) I'm so excited mate :D

Thanks again to everyone and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

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**Chapter 6. Trust**

Caleb could see the flashing lights of the two police cars as he entered the street and he immediately sat up straighter in his seat. The town was indeed small and it hadn't taken very long once he had arrived to find the biggest commotion, knowing without a doubt that it would be where Dean and Sam would be. Those boys attracted trouble like no-one else he knew.

Caleb parked the truck on the side of the road just before where the cops had blocked off the road and sat staring at the scene before him for a moment. Opening the middle compartment Caleb flipped open the secret part where John had hidden all of his fake id's. He searched through his own assortment of ids until he came up with one that he approved of for the situation. He settled for an out of state cop and opened the truck's driver side door and stepped out. He could feel the familiar feel of his .45 tucked behind him in the waistband of his jeans.

As he approached the blocked off area Caleb took note of what was going on around him. Two cop cars was probably about half of what this town had. Sitting right in front of the mess was the Impala. Un-mistakenly Dean's newly restored Impala. If anything was going to synch it seeing the Impala shining in the lights of the police cars was it. As Caleb neared the scene a young cop noticed him and walked toward him holding his hands up gesturing for him to stop. "Sorry Sir, you can't come any further."

Caleb nodded like he had expecting to be told that. He pulled out the police id he'd chosen from the truck and flashed it to the younger man. "Detective Johnson," he introduced. "I was passing through and thought I could maybe lend a hand." Caleb told him already walking past the man with confidence like he had every right to be there. "Who's in charge here?"

"Umm that would be Sheriff Richardson." The young cop pointed towards the uniformed cop with the telephone to his ear. "He's just over there Detective."

"Thanks ... Morgan." Caleb smiled, reading off the man's name tag.

Sheriff Richardson was a man of average height and with dark hair and a goatee. He was standing by the other police car surrounded by a few other police men and women. As Caleb approached he could see that the man was frustrated with whoever was on the other end of the phone. He caught the man's eyes as he got closer and saw the confused look on his face. Caleb pulled out his id again and flashed it to the man as he came to stand beside him. "Detective Johnson Sir, I'm here to help."

Richardson briefly nodded at Caleb and then held up his hand gesturing for him to hold on for a moment. "Just don't harm anyone Nick and we'll see what we can do for you. Stay on the line oka..." Richardson growled and pulled the phone from his ear glaring at it. "Damn it!"

"What's going on in there?" Caleb asked having no time for pleasantries

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" Richardson growled, sounding a lot like the late John Winchester making Caleb smirk.

"As I said before, I'm Detective Johnson." Caleb explained slowly although not slowly enough to sound condescending. It wouldn't help his cause much to get on the mans bad side. "I was driving through and saw the commotion. Thought I might lend a hand. I've come across a few of these things before." he lied.

The Sheriff looked slightly annoyed but nodded vaguely at Caleb. "Sure. You want to hang around feel free. But know that I'm in charge around here Johnson."

Caleb nodded quickly. "Yes Sir, of course. You mind filling me in?"

Richardson sighed. "Well we got call saying that shots had been fired at this here restaurant. By the time we got here it had turned into a full blown hostage situation. I'm pretty sure we are dealing with two males. They have children inside and there is a hostage down which is our main priority at the moment."

Sam! Caleb tried not to panic. He had already known that Sam had been hurt when he had reached out to the boy with his abilities, but to hear it confirmed right in front of him sent that tendril of panic that always grew into a tidal wave when one or both of the boys were in trouble. He's gaze rested on the front glass door of the restaurant as the sheriff explained the rest of the situation. He glared at the restaurant, wanting to storm in there and beat the shit out of the two guys that had harmed his boys.

"Okay." Caleb turned back to look at Richardson. "So they just want vehicles and a clear getaway? What are you waiting for?"

Richardson frowned, looking up at the dark haired detective. "We are not in the business of letting criminals get away, Detective Johnson."

Caleb rolled his eyes and ran a hand frustrated through his hair. "I understand that Sheriff but you have a wounded hostage in there. I would think getting him ... or her out of there would be your number one priority." Caleb shivered a little in the early morning air. It wasn't freezing but only wearing a t-shirt and a light black denim jacket the breeze was cutting right through him along with his fear that he was going to get to the boys too late.

"We don't know how badly the hostage is injured..."

"Any bullet wound is dangerous and serious if you ask my opinion."

Richardson placed his hands on his hips. "I don't remember asking you."

Caleb stood there silently for a moment; anger surging through him at this mans carelessness. He was sorry now that he had ever compared the man to John. In these circumstances John would have never put the victim at risk. He would have got them out and then tracked down the sons of bitches. Precisely why this man was nothing like John Winchester. Caleb took a calming breath and plastered an apologetic smile on his face that really grated on his nerves. "I'm sorry Sheriff. You're right." He didn't want to be kicked off the scene, not that it would stop him from fixing the problem but it would make things harder. "I just want to help Sheriff."

"Well just remember your place then son and we'll get along just fine." Richardson responded turning back to look at the restaurant.

"Not if you were sporting black bras and strappy high heels." Caleb muttered under his breath then shook his head at the image that popped into his head.

"What did you say?" Richardson asked with a frown.

Caleb looked up and raised his eyebrows with a smile. "I said yes Sir." He gave a mock salute.

Richardson stared at the psychic suspiciously for a moment and then snorted. "Yeah, well stay out from under my hair Johnson." He turned around to the young female deputy beside him. "Get me a vehicle on standby but..." he looked back at Caleb. "...I don't intend to have to use it."

"Yes Sheriff." she answered, giving Caleb a side glance as she pasted him.

Caleb looked around them to see what he was dealing with since the Sheriff was an obvious ass who, from what Caleb had seen so far, couldn't care less about the innocent people inside the restaurant. It was just his luck. Or maybe he should blame this on the Winchesters as well. Bad Luck had always followed them around like a bad smell. Once this was all over and done with and both Dean and Sam were safe he needed to kidnap a Leprechaun to throw some luck their way. But then again good luck was never guaranteed with the slippery little green guys and with the luck they already had they would most likely only attract bad luck ... and what the hell was he thinking about? Caleb cracked his knuckles in front of him and once again concentrated on their surroundings.

The restaurant was close to a corner. At the corner there was a small street lined with little country houses with yards and gardens and Caleb rolled his eyes. This type of thing most likely rarely happened in this town which was probably why Sheriff 'I don't give a fuck' was so gung-ho about the whole situation. Of course once again this information did nothing to help him. Cops were walking down the street. Caleb assumed maybe they were looking for a back way or just keeping an eye so the two guys inside didn't escape out the back ... if there was a back.

Caleb turned back to Richardson who was attempting to redial the men inside. Caleb's first instinct was to question the man's actions but he realised quickly that the only thing that would accomplish would be for him to be chucked off the scene. "Is there a back entrance?"

Richardson glanced up at the taller man. "Not a back entrance per se. There's a back door to the restaurant and a matchbox fenced off outside area but it's closed in by other people's backyards and what not."

"Mind if I check it out?"

After a few beats Richardson reluctantly nodded. "Yes ... But No trying to get inside. Leave this up to me and my team. Do you understand me Johnson?" He held a warning index finger up in front of Caleb's face and the psychic had the urge to bite the thing off had it not been for the foul taste it was sure to have.

"Cross my heart ..." Caleb held a hand to his heart but skipped the melodramatics. He didn't think they would go down well. "Sure thing Sheriff," he re-emphasized when the Sheriff didn't look convinced.

Caleb didn't wait for the man to respond any further. He didn't exactly have time for idle chit chat with pompous control freak Sheriff's. He jogged over to where two Deputies were casing the area and nodded to them briefly before studying the fence closest to the line of shops. It was a rickety old brown wooden fence. Caleb looked at it doubtful and then shrugged. He had climbed over and through worse.

He took a few steps back and then took off launching himself up and onto the fence, tiny little splinters already digging into his hands once the pressure of his whole body was applied. Using his upper body strength Caleb pulled himself up, swinging his long jean clad legs over the top and then he dropped down to the concrete below on the other side. He had three more fences to go.

He rubbed his hands together to get rid of the lose splinters that had come off on his hands. Now that he was on the inside of the fence all he had to do was climb up the support planks to get over and he made quick work of the next fence. Once over the other side he came across a steel fence. "Of course they couldn't make it too easy could they?" he grumbled under his breath.

Wiping his hands off on his jacket Caleb walked to the corner between the steel and wooden fences. Using both fences he pulled himself up and got one leg over and then the other, jumping down onto the other side. Over the next fence was the restaurants small yard. If judging by these other yards matchbox was the correct description. They were no longer than ten feet from building to back fence and maybe fifteen feet across.

Trying to be even quieter than he had before, Caleb scaled the last fence silently cursing when the top of the steel fence bit into his palms.

xXx

Dean tried to calm himself. Panicking was going to do him no good. But with Sam lying a few feet from him so still and bleeding to death and the little guy balling his eyes out it was kind of hard to keep calm. He hated seeing kids upset or hurt and he hated seeing his brother upset or hurt so this was like a double scoop of the things he hated most. He knew one thing. He wanted to kill Ron. The longer he waited tied up the way he was the stronger the violent feelings got towards the arrogant son of a bitch.

The kid was sobbing his heart out and finally Dean couldn't take it any more. "Hey!" he called causing the kid to flinch. "Its okay buddy I'm not gonna hurt you." Dean thought it was important that he establish that early despite the fact that it was impossible for him to do so considering he was attached to a pipe.

The boy continued to cry and Dean sucked in his lower lip, lightly biting down on it in thought. He looked over to the corner where the kid was tied up trying to ignore his brother on the floor. "My name is Dean" he tried again. "Wanna tell me your name buddy?"

He heard the kid hiccup through his tears. "Come on kiddo I just want to help you. I promise."

"I'm scared." The small voice said after a long moment of silence. Dean sighed in relief that at least he was getting a dialogue from the boy.

"You wanna know a secret?" Dean asked quietly.

"What?" that kid hiccuped, more tears streaming down his small baby cheeks.

"I'm not happy about this either."

"He killed your brother."

Dean's heart clenched at even the thought of Sam being dead but he tried his best to sound confident. "Nah, he's not dead. He's just ... asleep."

Dean smiled a little as he heard the kids crying subside to the occasional hiccup and stuttered breath. "I want my daddy and my brother." He cried.

"Yeah ... don't well all," he muttered, thinking about his own father. That wound was still so fresh that it hurt badly whenever he thought about it which was most of the time. "Don't suppose you can get out of those cords?" Dean hoped against the hopelessness of the situation.

"I think I can."

Dean's eyes opened wide at this new revelation. "What? What are you waiting for then?" he asked in surprise. His outburst caused the young boy to shrink back into his corner. "I'm sorry kid I didn't mean to scare you okay. Can you get out of those cords for me? You do and I promise I will get you out of here."

"What about my daddy and Jason?"

"Kid, I promise you I will get everyone out of this mess if you can get loose." Dean hoped to god that he could deliver on that promise but he would do his very best while taking down that son of a bitch.

"Promise?" The small scared voice reminded Dean that he was dealing with a kid no older than 4 or 5 and to tone it down a little.

"I promise to pinky swear." Dean looked across the room directly into the cherub face of the little boy and watched as the kid analysed the truth in his promise. He had always known that kids were smarter than people thought they were. Adults usually made that mistake.

"Okay."

"Good boy." Dean sighed and rested his aching head against the wall, listening to the sounds of the kid wriggling free. The psycho out there obviously wasn't used to having to tie up little children. They had smaller wrists and Dean was glad that Ron hadn't accounted for that fact or the fact that telephone cords wasn't as efficient as ropes.

"I'm free!" the kid chirped, startling Dean out of his thoughts. "That's great kiddo ... but shh we don't want the bad guy to come in here okay."

The kid jumped and looked towards the closed door and even in the dark Dean could see the fear in his face and shoulders. "Okay little dude, you wanna do me a favour now?"

"Yes Sir." He scampered over to Dean avoiding Sam's still form as much as possible. "What?"

"Okay, now listen carefully okay?" Dean smiled as he saw the kid nod in earnest much like Sam used to do when he gave him instructions before he had grown up and rebelled against every instruction he was given by Dean or their Dad. "There's a knife in my boot I need you to get it for me and put it in my hand okay?"

The kid nodded and dove straight for Dean's left foot which was closest to him. "Uh huh ... the other one buddy." Dean could feel the small hands lift up the bottom of his blue jeans and wrapped his fingers around the silver knife and pulled it out. "Is this it?" the kid asked his voice getting higher with the question.

"That's the one." Dean winked. "Now put it in my hand and I'll get loose and then get you out of here." The kid held the knife and looked at Dean with his big eyes that looked even darker in the bad lighting. "And Daddy and Jason?"

Dean sighed. He liked the kid's loyalty. It was definitely something he could admire. "I promised to pinky swear didn't I?"

The kid nodded and quickly placed the knife in Dean's hand. Dean immediately began awkwardly cutting through the ropes. It would have been faster had he let someone else cut through the ropes but Sam was currently out of commission and as much as he already liked and admired this kid he wasn't ready to have his wrists sliced open.

"Do you really wanta know my name?" The kid asked as Dean grimaced through the pain of cutting the ropes. His wrists were chaffed to hell. "Sure do." he answered.

"Matthew." The kid supplied. "But Jason and Daddy call my Matt."

"Yeah? That's my middle name you know."

"Wow, really?" Matthew's face was full of wonder.

"Yep." Dean's arms dropped forward as the last of the ropes broke away finally. Dean gasped at the pain the sudden release caused. Matthew shrinked back a little. "Are you okay mister?"

Dean gingerly touched his bloody wrists and nodded. "I'm fine Matthew and call me Dean, okay?"

"Okay ... Dean. You can call me Matt if you like." Matthew offered as Dean looked past him to Sam who had still yet to move.

Dean brought his attention back to Matthew and smiled, gripping the boy by both shoulders. "That's awesome Matt. You're a pretty tough kid."

Dean moved forward on his hands and knees and his ass woke up again. He hadn't realised it had been going to sleep until he was finally able to move. Once he reached Sam Dean's hand hovered over the kid's neck almost too afraid to know the answer to his unspoken question.

"You really think so?" Matthew asked from his spot behind Dean. "Jason always calls me a whip."

Dean finally got the courage and reached out and placed two fingers against the pulse point in Sam's neck. "I think you mean wimp and don't worry dude, it's just a big brother thing. I bet Jason thinks you're the coolest." If what he had witnessed of the boys before he had been knocked out was anything to go by then Dean knew that Jason was much like himself and like himself he would probably never admit how cool his little brother was.

He started to panic when he felt nothing. No pulse beneath his fingers. No! Sam couldn't be dead. Not now! "That's not what he says." Matthew continued and Dean realised that this kid had something else in common with Sam as a kid. Once he started he didn't shut up. Dean nearly physically jumped when suddenly he caught a flicker of something under his fingers. There it was … a pulse. It was slow and thready but it was there, even more prominent now that he knew that it was there. "Thank God ... good boy, Sammy." Dean patted his brother's cheek lightly. He wiped the sweat drenched hair out of his brother's eyes before he heard Matthew calling his name.

Dean turned towards the little guy standing just behind him. "Is he okay Dean?" Dean nodded slowly. "He will be Matt, he will be. How about we get you out of here?" Dean stood up on shaky legs and grunted when he picked Matthew up and walked over to the desk and placed him down.

"What about my Daddy and Jason?" Matthew placed his hands on his hips.

Dean raised his eyebrows dramatically like he had just remembered something. "Oh that's right. I almost forgot the pinky swear." Dean held out his pinky waiting for Matthew to take it.

Tears started to form in the kids brown eyes. "I don't want to leave without them."

Dean grabbed the kid by both shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Hey ... hey I told you that I was gonna get them out of here didn't I? I promise you. Do you trust me Matt?"

Matthew got that thoughtful look on his face again before sniffing and wiping his nose on his sleeve. "I think so."

"That's good enough for me buddy." He held up his pinky again and this time Matt took it. With the promise out the way Dean climbed up onto the desk with Matthew hoping to at least get the kid out of this before they were found out. He didn't know what he would be greeted with on the other side of that window but he was hoping that it held the escape he was hoping for.

Dean reached to push the window out and open, surprised when it seemed to hit something solid on the other side followed by a grunt and curse. "What the hell?" he whispered as the window was suddenly wrenched up and he was staring into the business end of a .45. The familiar face behind the gun had Dean doing a double take. "Damien?" he hissed.

Caleb's eyes widened. He held his free hand to his head from where the window had connected while holding the gun with his right hand. "Deuce?"

"What are you doing here?" Dean hissed, placing a hand on Matthews shoulder to reassure the boy who had suddenly clung to his leg. "And get that damn gun outta my face."

Caleb glanced at the gun, in the surprise of finding Dean at the window he had momentarily forgotten he had still been pointing it. "Sorry ..." He lowered the .45. "Are you alright?"

"I'm trapped inside a restaurant with trigger happy psycho for my host ... what do you think?" Dean glowered. He didn't know why irritation suddenly flared inside him but with the way he had left things with Caleb he was both irritated and relieved that the man had been predictable and came to their rescue.

Caleb continued to rub at the bruise that was already forming above his right eyebrow. "You know what I mean Dean." Caleb snapped back in an irritated whisper not wanting to alert anyone inside the restaurant to the unplanned conversation.

Dean sighed and turned to look down at his brother on the floor. He didn't have time for whatever issues he had with Caleb at the moment. He needed to get Sam to a hospital before it was too late. He brought his gaze up to meet Caleb, hoping the older man wouldn't sense the underlying fear in his eyes. "I'm okay, Damien. Sam...Sammy's not doing so well."

"He was shot, I know."

"A vision?"

"They never get any better dude."

"I need to get us out of here man. I...I don't know how long ..." Dean's attention was brought back to Sam when he heard a low moan.

"You're not planning on escaping through here are you dude? I don't think you'll fit." Caleb quipped, conveying with his eyes that he understood when Dean whipped his head around in annoyance.

Dean rolled his eyes. "A little more help a little less wannabe comedian." he hissed reaching his hands through the window, palm open. "Give me your gun."

Caleb handed over his piece without complaint, not missing the bloody wrists but put it aside knowing it would only irritate Dean to mention it. "What do you want me to do?"

Being this close to Dean he could feel up close and personal the anger and fear that was consuming his friends body once again confirming his vision with startling clarity. Being this close to the boys yet being unable to actually get inside and take control of the situation for them was just another kick to the guts.

Caleb was surprised when Dean ducked down. He didn't have to wonder what he was doing for very long because a moment later Dean came back into view. What did shock Caleb was the small boy in his arms who was currently trying to climb into Dean's neck. "Deuce?"

"I need you to get him out of here."

"No!" Matthew squealed clinging tighter to Dean's neck almost cutting off his air supply.

"Hey ..." Dean whispered, quickly glancing at the door and then brought his eyes back to the kid wrapped around his neck. "...hey Matt you need to be quiet remember." The last thing they needed right now was for Ron to come barging in here while Dean had his arms full of four year old. "Dude, you have to go with Caleb now okay. He's not gonna let anything happen to you okay." He tried to reassure.

"Deuce, don't want to rush you but ... we need to hurry it up!" Caleb hissed, feeling utterly useless and a little cold standing in the dark on a dumpster.

Dean glared at Caleb, rubbing a hand up and down the small back. "Caleb's one of the good guys dude. I trust him ... completely." he shared another look with Caleb, letting the older man know that what he was saying was the truth. "If you want me to help your Dad and your brother then you have to go with him okay? Please?"

There was a agonisingly silent moment before Matthew finally loosened his holed on Dean and looked up into his face. "You promise?"

"You're lucky. I seem to have a lot of those in stock today." Dean joked. "I promise."

Matthew looked hesitantly between Caleb and Dean and finally nodded, though still unsure. "Okay Dean, If you trust him then I do too."

"Good boy Matt." Dean said giving a relieved smile. "Okay now I need you to climb through the window. Caleb will grab you on the other side okay kiddo?" Matthew nodded. "You ready Mrs. Doubtfire?"

"Always was a glorified nanny around you Winchesters." Caleb grumbled as he reached out to grab Matthew by the arms. In moments the small boy was hanging off his neck and seemed to be studying him, making Caleb uncomfortable.

"You loved every minute of it Damien." Dean smirked, the familiar banter with the psychic making him feel slightly better, reminding him that he wasn't alone, not that he would ever admit that, especially at the moment.

"Says you." Caleb griped back, readjusting his grip on the kid. "What are you gonna do now?"

"I actually have an idea." Dean replied, an idea forming suddenly.

TBC ...

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Okay ... should be worried that Dean has an idea? just joking lol I have the rest of this all playing out in my head so given some writing time hopefully it will come easier :D Hope you all liked this chapter :)

One thing I would like to mention ... at the end of this story I will be changing my username to Tara(or as close as i can get it). I sign everything in the fan world as Tara and im pretty sure most you all know me as that so i thought it made sense to simply just go by that name. I wanted to let you know incase it got confusing :) I wont change it till the last chapter of this story but i wanted to let you know in advance. It's something i've been thinking about for a while :) Thanks again for reading. I really do appreciate it :D You all Rock!!!

Luv Tara x0x


	7. Bat Signal

**Authors Notes:** First of all I wanna say thanks to everyone that has reviewed. I have gotten so much more responses from this story than I thought i would and i have cherished every single one of you! I got back from my holiday on Sunday night (I spent a week with **Lisa, aka angelustatt,** in her state of Western Australia. I had the best time. She's awesome and a wave hello to Phill and kids too who were also awesome :D) Thanks to Lisa for reading over this for me :D you're a legend :D

I wanna thank **Ridley C. James** for letting me play in her sand box and credit needs to go to both her and **Tidia** for some of the Brotherhood references in this story that come directly from a number of their fics. They rock!!

Okay onto the story ... sorry for the long wait and I hope you like this chapter ... we are getting closer to the end now :) ...

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**Chapter 7. Bat Signal**

He didn't like this plan. It wasn't totally foolproof and there were too many things that could go wrong. The problem was that there wasn't a lot he could do about it because when Dean had asked him if he had a better idea he hadn't been able to think of any. He hadn't been able to think of any that resulted in nobody being hurt and getting Sam to medical attention as soon as possible which was of course their main priority. Caleb had seen the uncertainty and fear in Dean's green eyes and he knew without his abilities that things were dire. Sam's condition was getting worse by the minute and the very real possibility of Sam not waking up from this was what had Caleb agreeing begrudgingly with Dean's game plan. Now he was left with a little kid and a grumpy sheriff to convince. On the bright side Caleb didn't think it would actually take much to convince the sheriff to take action because he seemed to prefer that to letting the bad guys go, so maybe that wouldn't be such a challenge.

The kid on the other hand Caleb wasn't sure about. He had never thought that he was really that good with kids. He had balked at the idea when presented with a five year old Dean and a baby Sammy. He had been thirteen. Why would he want to have to spend time with weirdo kids and their baby brothers when he could be spending time learning the finer points of hunting and defence with the likes of Mac, Jim, John and Bobby? Now Caleb was pretty sure that it wasn't kids in general that had worked so well between him and the Winchester's but the connection he had felt immediately with Dean, that common ground they both shared through similar tragedies in their young lives. Dean had been almost basically a mute when he had first met the kid but Dean had taken a liking to him from the get go through that same common ground and they had probably helped each other more than either was willing to admit.

Jumping down off the dumpster Caleb turned his back to it and reached up behind him. "Come on kid, jump on my back." Caleb ordered.

He felt the best and quickest way to get him and the kid back over the fences would be a piggy back ride. He felt the kid's small arms wrap loosely around his neck. Matthew's legs clung to his back.

"That's it. Now hold on tight okay. Don't want you to fall off." Caleb suddenly choked when he felt the small arms close around his throat tightly. He reached up and pulled Matt's arms apart a little so that he could breath. "Matt, dude not so tight."

"But you said to hold on tight. I didn't want to fall. You said I could fall." Matt spoke from his position on Caleb's back.

Caleb sighed. He forgot that kids could take things literally. In his defence it had been a long time since he had spent any time with any children especially this young. "So I did, but I promise I won't let you fall okay."

"But you'll be climbing."

"Yes but ..." Caleb let go of Matt's arms and made his way over to the fence. "...look I'll make sure you won't fall. I promise."

"But ..."

"Matthew … seriously dude." Caleb rolled his eyes.

"What?"

Caleb turned his head so that he could see the small boy which was difficult with him hanging off his back. "Trust me okay. We need to get out of here now and you need to trust me. Just try and hold on without strangling me. Do you think you can do that?"

Matthew thought for a moment and then nodded solemnly. "I can."

"That's great Matt." Caleb sighed. "Can we go now?"

"We can go." Matthew agreed.

"Terrific," Caleb muttered under his breath as he approached the fence. The psychic reached up with both of his hands to try and get a handhold in order to pull himself over the fence. He realised soon enough that climbing these fences was going to be a little harder considering the new growth on his back that had instinctually held on tight again as soon as he felt Caleb begin to lift himself up. Caleb tried to ignore the pressure to his windpipe. The kid was scared and was doing a lot better under the circumstances than most kids would so he could hardly complain.

Caleb heaved a sigh of relief once his feet touched the concrete on the other side of the fence. He resituated Matthew on his back. The kid loosened his hold a little now that they were on solid ground much to Caleb's delight. "One down ... three to go," Caleb quipped quietly.

"Caleb?" Matthew's small inquisitive voice sounded from behind him as Caleb took the remaining steps to the next fence.

"What Matt?"

"Why did he call you that?"

Caleb frowned at the question having no idea where it had come from or what the kid was talking about now. "Why did who call me what?"

Matthew gave Caleb an exaggerated sigh as he prepared for the climb over the next fence. "Dean. Why did he call you Damien?"

Caleb grunted as he launched himself onto the fence and hauled both himself and Matthew over to the other side. He was panting slightly, turning his head to glance behind him at the small boy. "Damien?" Caleb wasted no time getting to the next fence, launching himself up and then shakily over, his booted feet landing with a thud on the pavement. Matthew's small arms caused him to gag when they held on tighter and Caleb automatically reached up to loosen them again.

"So?" Matthew persisted. "Why?"

Caleb looked at the last fence longingly. "Oh ... um yeah ... that's my superhero name." He walked up to the old wooden planked fence and used the support beams to pull him and Matthew up to the top of the fence.

Matt giggled as he once again tightened his hold around Caleb's neck. "You're not a super hero."

Caleb lifted his legs over the top of the fence and dropped to the ground. He knelt to let the kid off his back. He could see one of the cops approaching him; having seen him go over by himself and come back with a new friend had them curious.

Once Matthew had his sneaker covered feet on the pavement Caleb turned so that he was looking at the child face to face and put a hand on his shoulder. "Kid, I am better than Batman, Superman and Spiderman all put together."

Matthew looked at Caleb sceptically. "If you're a super hero then where are your super powers?"

Caleb looked pensive for a moment and his face broke into a grin. "I only have my powers on Sundays. It makes them extra special."

"Sir ..." The cop that had been approaching them came to stand directly behind Caleb. Keeping a hand on Matthew's shoulder Caleb turned to look up at the cop. "I need to speak to Sheriff Richardson." Caleb stood, reaching down he picked up Matthew in one fluid motion and nodded to the cop. "You'll be with your dad and brother before you know it kiddo."

Matthew wrapped his arms back around Caleb's neck as the two of them made their way over to the front of the shops where Sheriff Richardson was waiting by the phone. Matthew looked at Caleb's face as he was carried. "Because you're a superhero?"

"Damn straight." Caleb agreed.

"Is Dean a superhero too?" he asked, curious.

Caleb snorted. "Dean ... Dean is more like the sidekick."

Matthew's eyes brightened. "He's like Robin ... Batman's sidekick."

Caleb smirked at the thought of what Dean would think about being compared with Batman's tight wearing side kick. "Exactly. Dean is Robin."

Matthew shrugged his shoulders and looked at Caleb innocently. "I always liked Robin better."

"Why am I not surprised?" The psychic rolled his eyes and shifted Matt in his arms as he continued walking. "You know Batman is way cooler."

Sheriff Richardson looked up as Caleb approached a confused look on his face that quickly turned suspicious. "Kid, I thought I specifically told you NOT to do anything." He gestured towards Matt who was looking at him with distrust. "Who's the boy and where did he come from?"

"If you give me a second I'll explain." Caleb pointed to the same female Deputy that had been with the sheriff before. "Hey, you mind taking him somewhere safe?"

"Sure..." she walked around the sheriff and reached out to take Matthew from Caleb only for the boy to shy away, wrapping his arms around Caleb and burying his head into his neck.

"No!"

"Matt!" Caleb tried to pry the kid from him.

"No!" Matt held on tighter. "I want to wait for Daddy. Dean promised he would get them out."

"Matt." Caleb tried again

"Who the hell is Dean?" Richardson snapped when no explanation was forth coming. Caleb's glare pulled him up short.

"Shut up for a second, will you?" Caleb brought his attention back to the small child in his arms. "Matt ... Matthew look at me." Caleb didn't know whether it was the John Winchester like authority in his voice but Matthew let his death grip go and leaned back so that he could look Caleb in the eyes. "That's a good boy." He praised. "You need to go with ..." The hunter looked down at the woman patiently waiting.

"Hailey," she supplied.

"Hailey, you have to go with Hailey now, she'll keep you safe while we help Dean save your Dad okay."

"But you can keep me safe. You said you were a super hero, _Damien_."

"Yeah but I have to help Robin right now kiddo. Even super heroes need a little help sometimes, even if they won't admit it." Caleb knew that when all was said and done Dean wasn't going to like that Caleb had come to the rescue again. He would appreciate it deep down but that didn't mean the guy was gonna like it. If Caleb knew one thing about Dean Winchester, any Winchester for that matter, it was stubbornness. They all had it in abundance.

"Come on Matthew, I'll show you the police car would you like that?" Hailey asked, holding her arms out for Matthew to come to her.

Caleb could see by the way that the kid was looking at him that he really didn't want to go but he could also see that Matt realised that he wasn't going to get away with staying. In the end it was a sad fact for children that adults had the last word. "Okay." he whined and reluctantly let go of Caleb.

"It'll all be over soon dude, I promise." Caleb felt a little bad at the unhappy look Matthew gave him as he was carried away by the deputy but now was the time to focus on the problem at hand, he could worry about the kid later. Or more like it Dean could worry about the kid later after all Robin was apparently his favourite. And just when had he started thinking of him and Dean as Batman and Robin. He chuckled to himself. The sheriff cleared his throat impatiently and Caleb realised that the man wasn't in on the little joke playing out in his head and he was waiting for an explanation.

"Mind telling me what's going on son?" Richardson snapped out.

Caleb ignored the man's irritating attitude and began his explanation. "When I made it to the yard I decided to have a look through the small window and ran into an old friend."

"An old friend of yours just happens to be inside the restaurant?"

"Look the thing is he's stuck in there with his brother who is currently on the verge of bleeding to death." Caleb snapped back. "But the good news is that they are locked inside the small back office together."

Richardson raised his eyebrows. "And just how is that good news?"

"Its good news because the bad guys don't know he has my gun."

"What?!" Richardson yelled angrily. "Who the hell gave you the right to give a civilian a gun?"

Caleb didn't even flinch at the man's anger. He had withstood many a tirade of John Winchester. His late mentor had torn him a new one often of the years and if he had survived _that_ mans wrath this dickhead sheriff was nothing.

"For your information we have a plan that I think will work, I don't particularly like it but I think it will work and it has enough action in it that I think even you will appreciate." Caleb stood there anger in his gold gaze. Sammy didn't have time for this dip shit to screw around with them. "So what do you say Sheriff, are you willing to give this a chance?"

Richardson didn't like this kid at all but he sighed and decided that the least he could do was listen to what he had to say seeing as this was the first bit of advantage they'd had since this whole thing had started. "Okay spit it out kid, we don't have all day.

xxxxxxx

Dean stood up on the desk for a moment after the room was enveloped in silence again now that Matthew was gone. He trusted Caleb to get the kid to safety and to get convince the cops to work with his plan. Caleb had not liked his idea ... at all, but he realised that it was the best way to get Sam help and had begrudgingly agreed to it. Now he just had to give Caleb enough time to get back and explain the plan to the sheriff that the psychic hadn't seemed too keen on.

Dean looked at Caleb's silver .45 and sighed with relief. He felt so much better with a weapon on him now and he knew that this was the last time his little brother was going to convince him to walk into any place without it. He had that naked feeling for a reason ... usually a very good one. Dean shoved the gun into the front waist band of his jeans and carefully climbed down from the desk so as not to alert anyone outside that he had escaped.

Sam groaned again and Dean's stomach clenched at the sound. He hated it when his brother was in pain or sick and this was just killing him. Things were looking up though. He had a gun and Caleb was just outside. As annoyed as he had been with the other man he was grateful for his habit of sensing trouble and showing up when least expected. It was the sign of a true Knight and as grateful as Dean was it scared him as well. It scared him because Dean was afraid that the job was going to get Caleb killed … just like his Dad.

Dean knelt down on both knees and placed a hand on his brother's head, the boy's hair wet with sweat. "Hey Sammy, you with me buddy?" he whispered and a smile appeared on his face when Sam stirred under his touch.

The hardest thing for Dean had been made to sit there trapped while Sam lie there dying. He needed to be near his brother. He needed the physical contact to prove to himself that Sam was indeed still with him. His brother wasn't going anywhere. Dean wouldn't be able to handle it if his brother died. His father's death was still fresh in his mind and the thought of losing Sam on top of it was something he knew he wouldn't survive. He couldn't live without his brother. It was simple fact that he hadn't spoken out loud but he knew without a doubt.

"Sammy," he whispered his brother's name. He would feel better if the boy was awake, even if it was only for a little bit. "Come on dude."

Sam moved a bit and a look of pain passed over his features before his eyes fluttered open to a slit.

"That's it little brother." Dean coaxed softly.

"Dean?" Sam croaked. "What's g-going on?"

"Caleb's here ..."

Sam's eyes widened at this new revelation. "Is he okay?" he interrupted.

Dean leaned over to check Sam's wound. It was still bleeding a bit so Dean shrugged out of his outer shirt, wincing when his chaffed wrists were rubbed against. "You know Caleb ... he's off playing hero." Dean told him as he pressed his shirt into Sam's bloody back, eliciting a gasp from the younger hunter that he couldn't prevent. "Sorry..."

"What ..." Sam closed his eyes and took a moment to breathe before he continued. "What are w-we gonna do?" he opened his eyes and looked at his brother best he could from his position lying on the floor.

Dean raised an eyebrow at that "We?" he questioned. "You aren't doing anything but concentrating on breathing and staying awake. Me? I have a plan."

"Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" Sam coughed, scaring Dean when he sounded more like he was choking than coughing.

More blood was brought up and it was like an icy hand was grabbing Dean's heart. "Take it easy Sammy. I'm getting you out of this man, you just gotta hold on."

Sam nodded. "I ..." he coughed. "I'm okay."

"Sure you are." Dean patted Sam's head. "You want me to move you? Sitting up might make it easier to breathe." Dean suggested.

"Yeah." Sam agreed. He needed to get up off the floor. He wanted to sit up like a normal person, granted normal people didn't go around with bullet's in their back but he hated feeling helpless when his brother might be in danger. Considering there situation and Dean had a plan ... that spelt danger in his book. He trusted his brother unconditionally but Sam knew for a fact and from experience, when protecting Sam Dean didn't always think about his own safety. "I wanna ... sit up."

Dean nodded. "Okay Sasquatch, lets get you up, huh." Dean moved around to behind Sam and turned him so that he was now lying face up in his brother's arms. The younger hunter was panting with the effort of having moved only that little bit.

"I'll help ..." Sam felt sluggish; like his body was made of lead but being a stubborn Winchester he tried to move his legs so that Dean could move him into a sitting position. It was awkward and slow but Sam was pleased when he did actually manage to get his legs to do what he wanted. He stopped himself from crying out when Dean shifted him into a seated position. His brother's worried green eyes came into view when Sam finally opened his own. He hadn't realised that he had closed them. "I'm okay ... I'kay."

Dean steadied his brother's body against the couch. Sam was in trouble. This wasn't news because Sam had been in trouble from the moment he had been in shot but the longer they were trapped in this restaurant the more Dean's anxiety over Sam's welfare kicked up. "Not much longer now, Sammy." Dean assured him, looking into the dazed blue-green eyes of his younger brother. "I need to go now kiddo ... okay?" Dean patted Sam's cheek lightly when the boy nodded slightly.

Dean was leaving. It suddenly registered in Sam's screwed mind that his brother was about to get into the thick of things without anyone to watch his back, without Sam there to watch his back. Caleb was there, Dean had said so, but Sam had a feeling that he wasn't in the immediate vicinity. He reached up an arm and clenched a handful of Dean's t-shirt in his hand in a surprisingly strong grip. "Dean!" He breathed. It had the desired effect. Dean stopped in his tracks and lowered himself again so he was once again kneeling.

"Sammy, what is it?"

Dean frowned when Sam didn't answer straight away. For a few scary moments Dean listened to his brother's laboured breathing. "Sammy ..."

"J...just be c...careful." Sam pleaded, flexing fingers in Dean's t-shirt. "... please."

"I will." Dean assured him, wrapping his fingers around his brother's hand pulling it away from the front of his t-shirt. "Now you concentrate on staying awake, okay? I will be back before you know it." Dean held his younger brothers gaze until Sam seemed satisfied. Dean stood up and watched his brother for a moment as the kid struggled to draw in breath. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and walked to the door. He opened it quietly, only enough to look out without being noticed. He could only see Melissa and her friend Sami sitting in a booth. They were sitting across from the old couple and looked terrified and it was no wonder why when the person Dean hated most in the world at this particular moment came into view.

"I swear Nick; I think we should take one of these girls with us." Ron suggested, gesturing to the girls with his gun causing them to tense. "Hell, maybe both of them. The cops wont double cross us if we still have hostages."

_"I can't believe this."_ Dean tried to see around the door to where Nick was obviously standing but didn't want to risk being caught so was content to just listen. _"This was supposed to be a simple bank robbery ... at night so no-one would be there. I don't want to take hostages damn it! I just want to get out of here without going to jail."_

Dean scoffed at the same time Ron did and it made him sneer. He watched as a disbelieving look came across Ron's face. "Nicky, do you really think the cops are gonna let us get away? The kid in there has probably already kicked the bucket. That's murder in the eyes of the cop's man." Dean felt his blood pressure rising as Ron talked about his brother.

_"I didn't kill anyone."_ Nick argued.

_"You sure didn't stop it from happening and you sure as hell ain't doing anything about it now Nicky!" _A different voice, a female one. Dean surmised it was the waitress that Sam had saved and she sounded pissy and Dean was glad considering she seemed to know these two dickheads.

"Look I still think that we should take these two with us for ... security. The cops won't risk them, Nick." Dean held back a growl as Ron leered at the girls.

No way was he letting that creep get his hands on either of those girls. Dean stepped back from the door and closed it.

The plan was to call Caleb's cell when he was ready for them to make their move. The idiots in the other room didn't know that Dean had a gun and from what he had seen they weren't the brightest pair. On his signal Caleb would hopefully have the Sheriff's forces storm the place with smoke grenades. While the robbers were stunned by the cops entrance Dean would make his move and take them down in any way he good. If Ron happened to get in the way of one of his bullets then that was just bad luck for him and as far as anyone would know … it was self defence. The bastard was going down one way or another.

This plan was risky for him self and the hostages but if it was all done efficiently and quickly then Dean thought it would quite possibly work. His main priority was getting Sam to a hospital and right now this was the fastest way.

Dean put the phone to his ear as he pulled Caleb's .45 out of his waist band and waited for the psychic to answer.

_"Robin, got your bat signal, Batman is on the way."_ Dean frowned at the phone for a moment and then put it back to his ear wondering if his friend had finally lost it. "Damien?"

He could see the roll of Caleb's eyes in his head. _"Never mind ... the plan is set and ready. Are you ready?"_

Dean sighed. "Let's do this."

_"Be careful!" _It was Dean's turn to roll his eyes. "You too." He slid the phone shut and pocketed it. Taking a couple of steps back to the door Dean held his gun at ready. This was going to work. It had to. Sam's life depended on it.

TBC ...

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I feel much better I finally posted for you guys. Hope it was worth the wait. 

Also Ridley and Tidia have come up with a Brother Campaign to show our support for the boys. If you arn't familar with it then check out thehunterstomb(dot)com. Basically just buy a brother card for one or both of the brothers and send it in to them, sort of like what we did with the postcards last year! Its fun so dont forget to send them in :D Addresses can be found at the hunters tomb :D

Thanks for reading and your continued support because i know i have been a sucky poster lately /hugs/ oh and also a reminder that i will be changing my pen name on my last chapter of this story to simply Tara or something similar. I doubt i need to remind people of that but ... just in case hehe

Luv Tara x0x


	8. Double Trouble

**Authors Notes:** I'm sure you're all suprised by getting an update so soon hehe. I started writing last night and just kept writing so it gone done quickly :) Thanks everyone, for all of their wonderful reviews and thanks to A**ngelustatt **for reading it over for me ... especially this chapter :)

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**Chapter 8. Double Trouble**

If Nick thought that he was going to let his gutless ass get him arrested then he was more useless than he thought. The guy was soft. Just like Theresa's brother had been. Right now Ron could see a lot of similarities between Nick and Marcus. It was Marcus's fault that the job they had been on went south and Ron didn't feel the least bit sorry that Marcus had been caught and consequently killed in prison. He was just happy that he had been able to escape scott free.

He was starting to wonder why he had ever agreed to do jobs with Nick. The man had been friends with Marcus. He had been dating Theresa. The man was not cut out for this kind of life and the type of things that this lifestyle threw at you. He didn't have the stomach to do what needed to be done. Ron had no qualms in hurting others as long as it allowed him to survive and move on. Nick on the other hand was too soft. It was causing a conflict now and Ron was getting sick of Nick not playing the game.

"I don't want anymore people to get hurt." Nick rubbed his forehead with the hand still holding his gun.

Theresa moved from her stance leaning against the polished wood bar and reached out and placed a hand on Nick's forearm. "Nicky, you can still fix this."

Ron growled and turned angry eyes at Theresa. "Will you shut the hell up? Nick, you wanna chicken out ... fine! But think of me living it up in freedom while you're warming some dudes bunk in a prison cell."

The telephone ringing cut off Nick's reply. Everyone stilled in the room, waiting to see what would happen next. Ron gave Nick a hard look as if daring him to back out. Nick looked at the phone anxiously. This was just one big mess and he wanted it over and done with but he also didn't relish the idea of prison. Ron was right. The kid back in the office was probably dead and that meant murder or at least an accessory to it. He also wasn't stupid. He watched enough TV to know that these things never worked out well for the bad guys. They always ended up getting caught or killed. No matter what happened, no matter what they demanded Nick believed that they wouldn't get out of this. It would be so easy to just let the cops in and deal with the consequences. It was what he deserved for doing something so stupid. Joining Ron had been one of the worst idea's he'd ever had and now he was kicking himself.

"Are you gonna answer that?" Ron sneered. "In fact give me the phone. I'll tell them what we want ... no conditions. You have to be firm with these people Nick." Ron stepped forward, gesturing for the phone.

Nick should his head and took a couple of steps to reach the phone. "No way man, you ..."

Glass shattered, causing everyone to duck as small shards flew inward. Theresa screamed but the room was filling with a dark smoke making it impossible for Nick to see anything. He could hear movement behind him and shouted orders and knew instinctively that it was over. The cops had made their move and it wasn't to give them transport and clear passage out of there. They had moved in and taken them by force. Without being able to see and smoke filling his lungs Nick did the only thing he could do, he surrendered. His hands went up in the hair and it was only seconds when his gun was snatched from his hand and he was roughly shoved to the ground and handcuffed. Sure he could have made a run for it but he didn't want to run the risk of being shot and killed. He didn't want to go to prison but he also didn't want to be dead either. "I'm sorry, Teri." he called out over the noise of the cops and hostages. This was probably one of the worst mistakes he had ever made and he hoped to god that she could forgive him for the trouble he had brought to her.

Ron hadn't expected the cops to make that move. He had thought that while they had the hostages that they would be safe. He couldn't believe how wrong he had been. Breaking out of his momentary shock Ron wrapped his fingers around the first hostage he could get his hands on and dragged them up. It was one of the girls. He didn't have time to figure out which one it was and he didn't really care but she was going to make sure that he got out of this god forsaken restaurant. "Move it!" He yelled pushing her forward as he made a break for the kitchen. He needed to get out the back. The girl screamed but moved fast as he pushed her away from the smoke and advancing cops.

Once inside the kitchen Ron and the girl who he recognised as Melissa started coughing. Just as he was about to move her towards the back door something collided hard with his back sending both him and Melissa flying to the ground hard. Melissa was crying. Ron kicked out hearing a grunt but managed to turn himself around. He met with a pair of two incensed green eyes. The saying 'if looks could kill...' suddenly meant a whole lot more to Ron as he stared into the fiery enraged eyes before him. "How the fuck..." Ron's head snapped back as he felt the hard end of a .45 slam into his face.

xXx

Caleb followed the cops into the now smoke filled room. The gun he had borrowed held tightly in his hand as he tried to scour the area for Dean or the bad guys. By the sounds of things one of the bad guys had been caught. That meant that there was one more to go but it was amazingly hard to see.

He decided to head straight for the back room and at least see if he could find one of the boys. He made his way through the smoke and ended up at a wooden door to his left. Caleb opened the door and stormed into the room hold his gun in front of him.

What he saw had him lowering his gun immediately. There was Sam slouched against the front of some crappy couch. "Sammy …" he sighed.

He put his gun into the back waist band of his jeans and lowered himself into a crouch in front of the youngest Winchester and placed a hand on his shoulder and lifted the kids head with the other. Caleb was afraid for a moment that Sam was breathing. To his relief Sam was breathing but only just. He was struggling so much that it took a while to see.

"Sammy, are you with me Runt?" Caleb asked gently and then turned his head towards the door. "I need a medic in here!" he yelled causing Sam to flinch.

"It's okay Sammy." Caleb tried to re-assure.

Sam shared a dazed look with Caleb before the boys eyes rolled back in his head, his body going totally lax.

"Shit! No Sammy!" Caleb was just about to scream for the paramedics again but was saved from doing so when they came bursting through the door and pushed the psychic out of the way.

Caleb stood up and watched in fear as the paramedic's checked over Sam. He couldn't be dead. Caleb knew he would have felt the blow inside him had one of the boys died. That bit of knowledge was the only thing that kept him sane at that moment.

"How is he?" Caleb asked.

"He's still with us … for now but we need to get him out of he now or he won't be."

Caleb nodded. "Look after him." He hated leaving but he was a bit worried that he hadn't seen Dean since entering the restaurant. He needed to find the stubborn hard headed son of a bitch before he found more trouble.

One last look at Sam and Caleb left the room in search of the other wayward Winchester.

xXx

Dean shoved a crying Melissa out of the room and then locked the door. He wanted Ron for himself. He looked at the man who had shot his little brother and felt a rage come over him that he hadn't felt since ... since his father had gone and made that stupid deal for his life. He wanted to pound on this man until he could feel his blood. He wanted to just pound on him and pound on him until the jerk was no longer moving. Sam was sitting in that room all by himself bleeding to death. It was as close to death as Sam had been in a very long time and Dean couldn't handle it. Not right now. Not after Pastor Jim ... not after the scare he'd had when he'd thought Caleb had been killed and certainly not after his Dad's death. There was just too much loss in such a short time and it was overloading Dean's senses. Now with Sammy and the possibility of him not making it Dean's impenetrable walls were crumbling. All the pain, fear and anger he had felt festering in him for so many months now was coming to the surface and he was afraid that nothing could stop it from being unleashed and he was even more afraid that he didn't even care.

This guy had shot Sam and for what, a simple bank robbery, because this lazy ass couldn't get a job and actually earn some money? He hated people like that.

Sure they survived on credit card scams and hustling people but that was out of necessity and damn it they saved people's lives everyday without acknowledgement so Dean justified that they deserved something. They couldn't very well continue in their job without funds to keep them going. But jerks like Ron were just lazy bastards that deserved all that was coming to them.

When it came right down to it Dean didn't even care about all that. All it came down to was that Ron had shot Sam. This slimy asshole in front of him had shot his little brother and Dean was at the end of his rope. Dean didn't just want to kill this guy he wanted to hurt him. It was one of the reasons he hadn't shot him straight away. He needed to unleash his rage because his fear and panic for Sam's life was overwhelming.

Dean said nothing as he launched at Ron. He tackled him, taking him to the ground once more. He wanted revenge. Dean rained down punch after punch, connecting with the man's jaw hard enough that he felt some of Ron's teeth crack.

Pain exploded in his groin catching him off guard as Ron brought his knee up hard and frantic. It was effective. Dean dropped off the man in pain, hands going to cover the sensitive area. The moment's relief gave Ron the chance to move, more sluggishly than before due to the head bashing he had just received.

He moved as quickly as he could to the back door that he had locked earlier. Fingers wrapped around his ankle before he had the chance to make it the whole way and pulled his legs out from under him. Ron fell against the centre table in the kitchen. Utensil's rained down on both men when Ron tried to grab onto anything to keep him from landing on the ground. Dean crawled up, straddling the man's body again. Dean wrapped his hands around Ron's throat and began to squeeze, slowly cutting off his oxygen.

"How do you like it huh?" Dean growled as he continued to choke the man. He was too engrossed to see Ron's hand stretching out to reach out along the kitchen floor.

"Ple...ase." Ron wheezed out pitifully.

Dean's laugh was maniacal as he increased the pressure around the guy's throat. "My brother could be dying back there and you want me to spare you?"

It would be so easy to just kill Ron right there. Something was holding him back. He didn't know whether it was that little voice inside his head that always sounded like Sam telling him that he wasn't a murderer or how pathetic this loser seemed but Dean didn't do anything for the longest minute except stare into Ron's fear filled eyes. "You pathetic piece of shit!" Dean yelled his anger building when he thought of Sam, of how hard it was for his little brother to just keep breathing.

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in Dean's upper arm making him cry out and loose his hold on Ron. Dean looked at his right arm as Ron scampered out from under Dean, coughing and taking in big gulps of air. There was a small carving knife buried almost to the hilt in his upper arm.

Dean looked from that to the kitchen utensils that had fallen to the floor. The bastard had stabbed him. He could feel his blood running down his arm from the wound. His arm felt like it was on fire and he could feel it throbbing around the knife still embedded in his arm.

He reached with his left arm to remove the knife but never made it as a well placed booted kick had his head snapping backwards. He landed hard on his back; his head hitting the tiled floor making him see stars for a moment. The impact had re-awoken his previous headache from when Ron had knocked him out. He couldn't help but cry out as the actions jostled the knife in his arm. A kick to his mid section had him grunt and then groan louder as a second and third kick followed the first.

Dean lashed out automatically with his legs and tripped Ron up again. He tried to ignore the pain it caused in his arm but he couldn't stop his harsh painful breaths as he tried to cope with it.

Dean was up and on Ron again with a fierce growl of pain and rage. He got in one punch before Ron managed to get his hand on the handle of the knife and twisted it cruelly. Dean let loose with an animalistic howl as the knife was twisted. The pain had him collapse and breathing in short pants. "Sonofabitch!" he cursed.

This time he was on the bottom again. He cried out again as the knife was yanked out of his arm and held up above him like he was about to become some ritual sacrifice. Was this ass actually going to kill him?

Dean didn't get to think about it any further as the door to the room burst open, wood splintering. One gunshot rang out. It sounded extra loud to Dean's ears. Ron fell, a surprised look on his face as he landed on top of Dean. The bloody knife clattered on the floor. For a moment everything was silent and all Dean could hear was his heavy breathing. The heavy weight of Ron's dead body was removed after what felt like hours and a very familiar face loomed over him. Concerned eyes looked him over frantically.

"Deuce, are you okay?" Caleb Reaves voice filtered through the fog. With Caleb's voice everything came back to a normal speed and Dean's head and arm injuries made them selves known.

Dean groaned and tried to sit up. Caleb was there automatically, hands on his back helping him into a seated position. Dean looked at Ron's body, cold dead eyes stared back at him and Dean shivered but he concluded that it was the blood loss and not anything to do with the dead man that had just tried to kill him.

"Dean!" Caleb called when Dean didn't answer. The kid looked a mess and there was blood everywhere. Caleb looked him over quickly. It didn't take a genius to realise that all the blood was coming from the wound in Dean's arm. "Dammit Deuce, answer me!" he gripped Dean by his chin and forced the younger hunter to look him in the eye. He didn't like the glassy look.

"I'm okay ... I'm fine." Dean answered but he couldn't keep his body from trembling in the aftermath.

"Yeah, because you look so healthy," Caleb replied sarcastically. "Haven't we had this discussion before? I'm sure I have told you that YOU are not allowed to judge if you're alright."

Dean rolled his eyes and then regretted it. He felt dizzy. "Well then stop asking me then Damien if you don't want my opinion."

Footsteps could be heard from behind Caleb and they didn't have to wait long until two people stood through the door and look on in shock at Dean who was leaking blood like a running faucet and the dead body of Ron.

"What happened in here Johnson?" Richardson asked as he strode further into the room.

Caleb gave Dean a look that told the younger man that he really didn't like this guy and then turned around and looked up to face him. "The bad guy was trying to kill him and I fired. He's dead." Caleb held up the gun he had borrowed from one of the cops and handed it to Richardson.

Richardson looked annoyed. "We'll look into this later." he promised and then looked briefly concerned at Dean. "Is he okay?"

Caleb gave the man an incredulous look. "Does he look okay?" Caleb let go of Dean's shoulders to stand up and address the man at his full height but immediately stopped his motion when Dean started to fall back. Caleb caught his shoulders "Whoa there dude, take it easy." He then slid around him so he was seated behind his friend. He held Dean up with his arm but the younger man seemed to be fading fast.

"I'm fine ... where's S..sammy?" Dean slurred as his vision started to blur.

Caleb's expression became alarmed as his looked from Dean's fading eyes down to the wound on his arm. It was bleeding profusely. A lot more for a simple stab wound. A sudden flash of understanding crossed Caleb's mind and he quickly but gently lowered Dean to the ground. He shrugged out of his jacket and almost ripped off his t-shirt and wrapped it as tightly as he could around entry and exit wounds. Dean cried out, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

"Stay with me Deuce." Caleb looked up at Richardson. "Get the paramedics in here now! I think he might have nicked an artery." Caleb's frowned and glared at Richardson when the man didn't move fast enough. "Go! Now or he'll bleed out!"

Richardson seemed to snap out of it and took off back into the restaurant in search of the paramedic's, his deputy hot on his heels.

Caleb was left alone with Dean on the floor and Ron's lifeless body. He concentrated on keeping pressure on Dean's wound. Dean was white as a sheet and shivering. He was going into shock. He couldn't believe this. Sam had been the one he had been worried about. The kid had been slowly bleeding to death since this whole thing started and now here Dean was following in his younger brothers footsteps. Was this some type of warped competition to see who could give him a heart attack first?

Caleb lifted Dean's upper body and situated the younger man so that he was lying against his chest. With one hand he kept the makeshift bandage in place and the other he ran over Dean's head. "You're gonna be fine Deuce."

"Sa...mmy?" Dean mumbled.

"Sammy's gonna be fine man."

"Damien ..."

"What?" Where the hell were those paramedics, damn it?

"Look ... after Sammy..." Dean's voice faded out and Caleb's fear of losing either Winchester kicked up a notch. "That's your job, Deuce. No quitting! You hear me?" Caleb gave him a little shake for emphasis but all he received from his efforts were was a low groan.

It didn't matter anyhow though because the paramedics came rushing through at that moment and Caleb reluctantly let go of his charge. "He has a stab wound in his arm." Caleb told them. "I think it might have nicked an artery or something. He's lost a lot of blood." Caleb hated feeling helpless and now as he watched strangers work on keeping his best friend alive he felt very much helpless.

"Thanks son, that helps a lot." The elder paramedic told the psychic and then looked at his partner. "Let's get him on the gurney. We need to get him out of here now."

Caleb helped them load Dean onto the gurney and then stood back. He could feel Dean's blood drying on his hands and a sudden chill came over his body, reminding him that he was naked from the waist up. He quickly slipped into his denim jacket, picked up his discarded gun that Dean had dropped and followed the paramedics out of the kitchen not giving Ron a second glance. Sam was already loaded onto the ambulance and just about ready to go. They loaded Dean up in the back of the ambulance along side his brother. Caleb went to climb into the back when he felt a hand on his arm halting his assent into the vehicle.

"I'm sorry sir but you can't ride with them. There isn't enough room."

Looking into the small space Caleb realised they were right and he didn't want to take up any room that might be vital to keeping the boys alive. "Where are you taking them?" he asked as she the young paramedic climbed up into the back. "Carroll County hospital."

Caleb nodded and watched as the doors were closed and his family were taken away from him. Caleb turned and started heading for the truck. He ignored Richardson calling him and started running to the truck. He needed to get to the hospital now. He wasn't sticking around to speak to Richardson, not when the boy's lives hung in the balance. Caleb wrenched open the truck door and jumped up into the driver's seat. He started the truck and pulled out, speeding off in the same direction that the Ambulance had gone.

Caleb slammed his hand against the steering wheel. He had been scared shitless when he had known that Sam had been injured but now it was both Winchesters. Now it was both Sam and Dean. John would have kicked his ass for the crappy job he was doing at looking after his boys. Hell, Caleb felt like kicking his own ass right about now. He should never have listened to Dean when he had pushed him away. He should have ignored Dean trying to ignore him and been there. Caleb knew deep down that he couldn't have known this was going to happen and that realistically he couldn't be with the boys 24/7 but it still cut deep to think that he was entrusted with the boys care and now they were both headed to the hospital.

Caleb glanced at Jim's cross swinging from the rear-view mirror and sent a silent prayer up to the Pastor to look out for the boys and keep them safe. After all they had all been Jim's boys and Caleb suspected that not even death would stop the older man from looking out for them.

Caleb had seen the pastor go to some extraordinary lengths to protect them in the past and knew that if Jim was indeed up there then he would be working his hardest to help. Thinking that made Caleb feel better, safer anyway so that was what he clung to as he followed the ambulance that was carrying a very precious cargo.

TBC ...

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Okay this is a special shout out to certain people who wanted some Dean Whumpage (you know who you are :P) Hope you enjoyed :) Thanks again to everyone and I'll see you soon!

Tara x0x


	9. Where is he?

**Authors Note:** Hey Guys:D I really need to thank you all so much for the awesome reviews!!! I really am glad so many of you liked that last chapter because I enjoyed writing it :) You all definately keep me writing :) Thank you once again to **Angelustatt**. Thanks to **Ridley** and **Tidia** for their continued support in the Brotherhood arena and a shout out to **Nana56** who is a very lucky woman this weekend. Have fun :)

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**Chapter 9. Where is he?**

_Something was wrong he could feel it. He had told Sam as much once the doctor had left the room. He had felt it in the pit of his stomach. He could tell by the look in his brother's eyes that the kid didn't know what to make of it. He had probably put it down t haven't just woken up from a coma that the doctors had thought he wouldn't wake up from. That in itself was part of the problem. The doctor had been surprised that Dean had woken up at all. From what Dean had been told he was surprised him self that he was sitting there awake, breathing by himself. Cerebral Edema and Internal contusions, major damage to his liver and kidneys and it was all just gone, like it had never been there. Things like that didn't happen everyday. In fact Dean was sure that things like that didn't happen at all without interference. So Dean was confused and being awake and alive and having Sammy standing next to him, looking relatively okay wasn't enough to quell the fear that he felt deep in his gut. The feeling was enough to make him feel nauseous but then Sam was probably willing to place the blame for that upon waking up from that damn coma. Dean wasn't so sure. Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong._

_He hadn't had the chance to discuss it with Sam. He had been relieved upon first seeing his father in the doorway. He had been worried that the bad feeling he'd had had something to do with his father. Sam was there with him but his Dad had been nowhere in sight and he had began to worry until he had heard that familiar voice. John's voice had always been very distinctive. It was a voice he would recognise in a heartbeat and it had stilled every bit of doubt in fear that had been settling in his stomach and over his heart._

_"How ya feeling, dude?"_

_"Fine I guess. I'm alive."_

_His father smiled. "That's what matters." He looked just about as relieved to see him as what Dean was to see him. The last thing that Dean remembered was the cabin. His fathers possessed yellow eyes. He remembered brief flashes of the car ride to the hospital. He remembered his father's voice, disappointment at Sam for not finishing the job. Sam's eyes holding his gaze in the rear view mirror, the feeling of drowning in his own blood, of barely holding himself together and then a white explosion and then nothing. Nothing until he woke up there in the hospital with a tube stuck down his throat choking him and Sam screaming for help._

_Sam was picking a fight with Dad already and Dean didn't even have the strength to really fight it this time. They were all alive, intact. Dean didn't care about anything right now than that. His family had survived and together they would get passed this. But then Dad was telling Sam that he didn't want to fight anymore. Dad was sending Sam out for some 'caffeine'. Dean knew the signs. Dad was sending Sam away so that he could talk about something that he didn't want Sam to know about. It had happened a lot over the years. Sam had always been the baby in the family, always the protected one and Dean liked that his Dad trusted him with information. He liked that his father trusted him with the responsibility of Sam and the hunt. It made Dean feel needed in an odd sense. He didn't really know why but he did know that it was happening again. It was time for the grown ups to talk while Sam had been sent to get coffee. Not a lot had changed in the 5 years since Dad and Sam had lived together._

_Dean wasn't stupid. He had noticed that wistful sad look his Dad had given Sam as the kid had left the room. It made him nervous. He wasn't comforted at all when his father turned back to him and started talking. He was talking about the past about Dean as a child and how extremely proud he was of him. Dean at that moment had flashes of his possessed father telling him those things, the things that he had longed to hear for most of his life. The demon had toyed with him. Using his weaknesses of self worth an need for his fathers acceptance against him. Dean wondered if the words the yellow eyed demon spoke while possessing his father would tarnish future words of praise._

_His father was crying. His father hadn't cried in a very long time and here he was with tears running down his face and his chin wobbling, the whole deal. His father was trying his hardest not to break down and Dean admitted out loud that he was scaring him. He relied on the John Winchester that was always in control, in charge and stubborn as a mule. This John Winchester was different and was rarely let out to see the light of day. _

_"I want you to watch out for Sammy okay?" The hand on his shoulder offered minimal relief when all the alarm bells were going off in Dean's brain._

_"Yeah Dad, you know I will." Dean assured his father like he didn't understand why the man was asking him to do something that was just as important as breathing. "You're scaring me." and he was. Dean was just about terrified. When he had seen his father in that doorway he had been relieved beyond belief and now he was hoping the man was just having a breakdown of some sort. It was a better prospect than what his gut had been telling him earlier._

_"Don't be scared, Dean." Dean's fear spiked at those words from his fathers mouth. Suddenly his father was leaning over him and whispering in his ear, whispering words that would be forever imprinted in his brain. "You have to save your brother Dean but ... but if you can't save him then you might have to kill him."_

_Dean didn't know what to think as his father stepped back and looked at him one last time with tears streaming down his face. How could his Dad even contemplate such a thing? He couldn't kill Sammy. He couldn't kill his little brother, the same little brother he had devoted his life to looking after. And just what did he have to save him from? The Demon? From what? These questions swirled through his mind almost making him dizzy. He knew the shocked and incredulous look was still plastered on his face as his father left the room. Dean couldn't seem to move. He wanted to follow his father and ask him just what the hell he had meant by his cryptic order but he couldn't move._

_Then suddenly Sam was running into his room looking all kinds of hysterical and that sinking feeling in his gut made another appearance with a vengeance. It threatened to empty his stomach right there on the floor by his bed as Sam helped him to stand up. Dad was in trouble. Sam had found dad lying in his hospital room. Sam was terrified and dazed all at the same time as he led him down the corridor to their father's room._

_Inside the room it was frantic, doctors and nurses hovering over his father trying to save him. Dean could hear his heart beating loudly. Sam had a tight grip on his arm preventing him from falling. Dean watched, praying to whoever was listening. That feeling he'd had, the feeling that something was wrong came back. He felt sick. The doctors stopped working on his father and Dean wanted to shout at them not to stop, to keep going. His father couldn't die ... not now._

_"Time of death, 10.41am."_

_Dean stared at his fathers body, the flat lined monitor screaming through his mind... _"No," Dean mumbled, turning his head to the side. "Dad ..."

"Deuce!" There was a hand on his forearm and the voice was familiar. Only one person called him Deuce, a play on his father's use of the name 'Ace'. "Wake up man; you've had enough beauty sleep."

Dean could still hear the flat line screaming through his head as he slowly blinked his eyes open. He squinted at the sudden light that his eyes were subjected to. The room was way too white for Dean's liking and the curtains were pulled back revealing the suns rays shining through the window. Dean groaned and turned his head away from the curtain. He was in the hospital. Dean had always hated hospitals but he hated them with a passion. Hospitals only reminded him of death. He would never be able to go into a hospital without being reminded of that dreadful day at 10.41am. Dean knew that it should have been him that died instead of his father. He didn't know what his Dad had actually gone and done yet but he knew that whatever it was it was the reason he was still walking around and his Dad was dead. It was something that was slowly destroying Dean. He had tried confiding his suspicions to Sam after their visit to their mothers grave in Lawrence but after all the badgering Sam had done about opening up to him the boy hadn't seemed to know what to do with Dean's feelings once he was presented with them. It cemented the reason why Dean kept his weaknesses from Sam. He was the older brother; Sam didn't need to deal with his crap.

Caleb smiled as Dean slowly opened his eyes. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Sammy?" Dean asked his voice raspy. Dean looked fearfully into Caleb's concerned gaze. "Caleb, where's Sammy? Is he okay?" Caleb placed a hand on his chest preventing his upward motion. "Dammit Damien, where is Sam?"

"If you would sit back and relax for a moment I might be able to get a word in." Caleb complained and waited until Dean willingly relaxed back into his pillow albeit with an annoyed look sent in his direction. "Sammy's in recovery." he held up his hands before Dean could bombard him with more questions. "They took him up to surgery the moment you guys arrived and managed to get the bullet out with no problems. They'll move him into a regular room as soon."

Dean sighed. "So he's okay?" he reached up with his left hand to rub the bridge of his nose, feeling a pull on is hands and saw the IV. Looking up he noticed he was hooked up to one saline bag and one bag of replacement blood that was almost empty.

"He's been put through the ringer ... but you know Sammy, he's a tough kid."

Dean moved to sit up again, learning quickly not to put any pressure on his right arm. He looked down at it and saw that it had been wrapped tightly and placed in a sling tight against his chest. Once he was in a seated position Dean made a move to get out of the bed.

"Just what the hell do you think you are doing?" Caleb stood in front of Dean preventing him from getting out of the bed.

"I'm going to see Sam."

"Dude, you lost a lot of blood, you're staying right here."

Dean gave the psychic a hard look. "I don't remember asking your permission."

"I don't care."

"You never do Damien, you just go and do what you damn well please." Dean tried to shove the older hunter out of the way angrily but only managed to re-ignite the pain in his arm. "You're not Dad, you can't tell me what to do so move your ass." he grit his teeth in anger and pain.

Caleb flinched at Dean's reference to John but didn't move. Dean had been avoiding talking to him since days before. The kid was angry with him. Caleb knew why. Dean had got scared when he had handed over Mac's journal to Sam. It had contained all of Mac's research and documentation on Caleb's abilities growing up. Mac had given it to him and now he had given it to Sam hoping that maybe it would help him with his own abilities. That coupled with the fact that he had decided to sell Tri-Corp. Handing over the reigns to his construction company was another sacrifice that he had made for current times. Jim and John's deaths had made him realise what was important. He needed to keep the boys safe, keep an eye on them. John would have wanted him to. Something big was coming. That damn yellow eyed son of a bitch that had ruined al of their lives was still out there and Caleb would be damned if he was going to let anything happen to the people he loved. They had lost too much. Dean hadn't seen it that way. The oldest remaining Winchester had taken it as another blow and had pushed him away.

"Listen Deuce ..."

Dean glared up at his friend. "I thought I told you the other day that my name was Dean!" It was a low blow.

"Fine. _Dean_ then, but you're still not moving from that bed." Caleb stood unflinching in front of the younger man. He didn't care whether Dean even hated him right now. He had scared the shit out of him almost bleeding out like that and Dean's glare had never worked on Caleb in the past and it wasn't going to work now. "You just had a fucking blood transfusion! They won't let you in Recovery to see him anyway so just calm the fuck down before I knock you out myself."

Dean raised an eyebrow at Caleb's last comment. Caleb had never raised a hand to him, even when he had deserved it and he doubt that would change now.

"Don't think I won't." The psychic warned uselessly.

Dean sighed. The truth was that he didn't have the strength to fight Caleb on this even if he wanted. He wasn't feeling all that well and the sudden movement hadn't helped that. "Whatever dude." He lay back against the pillow.

"I'm going to go and get a doctor." Caleb said, standing back. He pointed a finger at Dean. "Don't even think about moving Deu...Dean."

"I want to talk to Sam's doctor." Dean told him stubbornly.

"Sir, yes, fucking Sir." Caleb replied sarcastically as he walked out the door in search of Dean or Sam's doctors.

Dean watched the psychic leave the room and felt a little guilty. He knew he was being unreasonable and unfair. Caleb was just trying to help. But they had lost so many people lately and now Caleb was out there more. He'd sold Tri-Corp and was hunting full time. He was trying to watch their backs ... closely, like he was afraid they were going to disappear. Dean got it. He really did. Caleb was worried about them but Dean was worried about him too and it pissed him off. Caleb having to come to their rescue this time around was just another reason for Dean to get pissed, now that it was all said and done, now that Sammy was safe. Now he could be pissed with Caleb again. Dean didn't want any other people to get hurt because of them ... him. Pastor Jim had been killed because of the yellow eyed demon, his dad had been no doubt died for Dean to live and Dean would never be able to forget the moment he had thought that Meg had gotten to Caleb. That phone call from Meg and hearing his father call for the psychic, knowing that the bitch had killed his best friend had caused his heart to stop for a second. He had felt sick and angry. Caleb being alive was a miracle and Dean was grateful but he couldn't afford to lose another person. He just couldn't.

He was starting to think that Sam was right. Their family was cursed. Everyone they cared about, their family seemed to die around them so when Caleb had announced that his plans to sell his company and constantly checking in with them it had angered Dean because he was scared he was going to have to go through that pain of losing Caleb again. If Caleb was constantly looking after them, if he was constantly in their lives then he would be a target. Dean didn't want to involve any of their small circle in this fight. They were all safer if they stayed away.

Dean sighed and thought again about getting out of bed and searching out his brother himself but refrained. He honestly felt like crap. His arm hurt like hell and he felt a little dizzy whenever he sat up before. He supposed it was the blood loss. He remembered losing it and attacking that bastard Ron and he remembered seeing Caleb standing there with a smoking hand gun, seconds after the gunshot rang out. After that it got kind of fuzzy after that. He remembered hearing Caleb's voice ... it had grounded him to some extent. The next thing he remembered was waking up from that awful dream or memory to Caleb looming over him.

Caleb had said that Sam was okay. Dean didn't doubt that. Caleb wouldn't lie to him about something like that but Dean still wanted to see his little brother for himself. Sam hadn't been faring too well the last time he had seen him and Dean wanted to erase the images of Sammy lying there struggling for breath out of his head. It had been too close this time ... again. Dean looked over at the window and squinted at the light shining through it. The weather was cloudy but it was still very bright and Dean wished he had asked Caleb to close the blinds before he had left.

It wasn't long before a doctor in a long white coat came walked into the room. The man was probably about Mac's age. He had greying hair and blue eyes that he could see even before the man got too close. He had a brilliant smile that Dean frowned at. Already he could tell that this man was way too chirpy. He wasn't in the mood for chirpy. The absence of Reaves hadn't gone un-noticed by Dean and he suddenly felt the loss of the man's presence despite trying to convince everyone, including himself, that he didn't want the older hunter around.

"Good afternoon Mr. Scott. I'm Dr. Radford. I was happy to learn you had finally woken up." The doctor greeted, heading straight for Dean's chart. "How are you feeling?"

"How's my brother?" Dean ignored the doctor, only wanting to see his brother, needing to see Sam. He needed to see for himself that Sam was really alright. "Can I see him?"

Radford looked pensive as he looked up from Dean's chart. "The young man you came in with?" he queried. "Samuel right?"

"Yeah, Sam. Look Doc, I just need to see my brother."

Radford nodded crossing his arms over the clipboard, holding it to his chest. "I'll see what I can arrange but only as soon as we have checked you out. Your friend informed me that you aren't one of the best patients so if you behave yourself I'll try to get you into see Sam."

Dean glared at the doctor. Damn Caleb. He didn't appreciate being treated like a child. "I'm fine."

"Let me be the judge of that, son. You lost a hell of a lot of blood." Radford told him as he began checking Dean's vitals and other things that Dean had no idea about.

"What happened?" It was still fuzzy after Caleb saved his ass and he was curious to know.

"You were stabbed in the right upper arm. When the knife was twisted around it sliced open an artery almost causing you to bleed out. You were lucky you were seen to as quickly as you were." Dr. Radford looked up at the practically empty clear bag of life giving fluid. "Good news is that we managed to stabilize you and replenish the blood that you lost. That was the last bag." he reached for Dean's hand and carefully removed the needle before reaching up and un-hooking the empty bag.

"So I can get out of here?" Dean asked hopefully.

The doctor frowned at the younger man. "I wouldn't say that but ..."

"Well when can I get out of here?"

"I would like you to at least stay another twenty four hours." Radford told him seriously rubbing his chin with his right hand.

"I can sign an AMA form." Dean counted. The longer he spent confined to a hospital the more he felt like he was climbing the walls.

"You could." Radford agreed. "But I have the feeling you wont be leaving until Sam is out of here right?"

"Damn straight."

"Then what's the harm in staying the twenty four hours just for precaution?"

Dean stared at the doctor for a moment. He really didn't want to be here but the doctor had made a good point. Sam wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. His body was screaming at him to allow himself this rest. "You get me in to see my brother as soon as possible and I promise to stay for twenty four hours."

Radford smiled again and patted Dean on the shoulder. "I'll see what I can do. In the meantime try to get some rest."

"Sure Doc ... and thanks."

Dean decided the guy wasn't as bad as he had originally thought. But then all it would take to be put in Dean's good books right now was a Sam that was alive and breathing. Nothing else mattered. Dean leaned his head back into the pillow and tried to relax. It was a hard task when he knew Sam was in recovery, not to mention the fact that Caleb hadn't come back with the doctor. Had he finally taken Dean seriously and decided to leave them? It was what Dean kept saying he wanted but why didn't he feel any better?

Dean was slightly annoyed to feel the pull of sleep fall over him. He didn't want to sleep, not until he had seen Sam and made sure he was okay at least. Dean's eyelids felt heavy but he managed to keep them open. He saw a television up in the high corner of the room and a remote control on the night stand next to him but decided not to bother turning it on. It was the afternoon and if he had to sit through daytime television he would most definitely fall asleep. He had no desire to sit and watch 'Days of Our Lives' or any other soap opera for that matter.

Closing his eyes Dean decided that it wouldn't hurt to just rest his eyes a bit. It was the thought his body had been waiting for to fool him. He gave a final sigh before slipping into a much needed sleep.

TBC...

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Not so much action in this one but I hope you liked it anyway :) I was trying to keep true to what was happening in the Brotherhood at this point in the timeline. Hope it made sense and worked for you all. One more chapter to go people. Thanks again everyone for your reviews. You've been great! And everyone keep their fingers crossed that this damn Writers Strike doesnt last too long!!! All of you have a Great weekend! Catcha soon :) 

Tara x0x


	10. The Same Goes For You

**Authors Notes: **Okay people, this is the last chapter and yes I chickened out of changing my pen name lol I'm over it now so im sticking with the one I have.

Thank you so much to everyone who followed this story even when Caleb butted in unexpectantly hehe. I have appreciated each and every review. You have all been above awesome.

Once again thanks needs to go to **Angelustatt** for reading over the chapter for me and Thanks to **Ridley** for allowing me to play in her universe and to both her and **Tidia** for the references i used from their stories.

Hope you enjoy the last chapter ...**

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**Chapter 10. The Same Goes For You**

_"Cant leave you two alone without you getting yourselves in trouble can I?"_

He knew that voice. It wasn't the voice he had been expecting but it was welcomed all the same. Still he couldn't help wondering where his brother was. Dean was always there for him when stuff like this happened. He could tell by the distinct sounds and smells that he was in a hospital. He even vaguely remembered what had landed him in this position. He had been shot! He'd been shot in the restaurant that he had dragged his brother to.

The one thing that had kept him calm through the whole thing was Dean's voice. Dean had been there every time he had woken up, coaxing him awake, begging him to stay with him. He'd hated hearing that scared pleading tone in his brothers normally so strong voice but just knowing Dean was there was enough to keep him going. It was enough to keep him breathing until Dean fixed the situation.

All through his life Dean had always been a constant, fixing anything he possibly could to keep Sam safe and happy. It was one of those sure things in life. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Dean would always be there for him. Dean would always be there to put himself in between Sam and danger. It was something that always seemed to terrify Sam as much as it did re-assure him. He loved his brother for that protectiveness but he didn't want Dean to go and get himself killed because of it either.

Dean had been spiralling out of control since their Dad's death. He had been reckless, more willing to put himself in the face of danger, almost like he had a death wish. Or at least that's what it seemed like to Sam.

Caleb had always been able to bring balance to Dean when Sam couldn't but even the older psychic hadn't had much luck with Dean and now they were barely talking. It hurt Sam to see that because Caleb had always been such a big part of their lives. Dean looked up to the older hunter. Caleb had been typically stubborn though. It hadn't been all that long since Dean had spit the dummy at the psychic but Caleb had kept in contact and had obviously turned up when they needed help. Caleb was also a constant he could count on

_"You're gonna be okay, Runt."_ Caleb continued the rambling Sam had been hearing since he had come to some sort of awareness. He hadn't opened his eyes yet or indicated to the older psychic that he was awake because simply enough he just didn't have the energy right now. He was working up to it. He wanted to talk to Caleb and he wanted to find out where Dean was.

_"The doctors fixed you up with no problem. You'll be up on your feet in no time kiddo."_ He felt a hand on his arm.

He felt better the more Caleb talked but he still wanted to know where his brother was.

_"Your brother's being his usual bitchy self."_ Had Caleb heard his thoughts? Sam hadn't thought of that possibility. _"He's still pissed at me apparently. He's a pain in the ass but I'm not leaving just yet. Someone's gotta keep you company while Deuce's lazy ass is resting it up in bed." _

Sam felt relief as Caleb spoke about his brother until what Caleb was actually saying sunk into his confused and tired brain. "D..."

He'd been talking about Dean but what had really stuck in Sam's mind was the mention of Dean being in bed. What was he doing in bed? Did he mean he was back at the motel? No, that couldn't be right because he knew from past experience and just simply knew that Dean would not have left the hospital until Sam woke up, even if Caleb was there. So did that mean that Dean was in a hospital bed? What the hell had happened? Was his brother hurt? If he was how serious was it? How the hell had he been hurt?

Sam's heart started to beat faster as panic set in. He needed to see his brother and he needed to see him now. First things first, he needed to wake up fully so that he could ask the questions that were plaguing his mind. He felt Caleb's hand tighten on his arm.

Caleb sat up straighter when he saw Sam move. It had sounded like the kid had tried to say something. He tightened his grip on Sam's arm and leaned forward. Whatever Sam was trying to say sounded more like a grunt than anything else but Caleb had a good idea what it had meant to be.

"Sammy?" Caleb called quietly. "Can you hear me?"

Caleb hadn't returned back to Dean's room once he had told the doctor he was awake. It was clear that Dean was irritated by his presence and he really wasn't in the mood to put up with Dean's pissy attitude.

Sam head turned towards his voice. "That's it Sam." Caleb bit his bottom lip in worry as Sam's heart rate increased.

The slow fluttering of Sam's eyes was a beautiful sight as far as Caleb was concerned. The doctors had assured him that Sam would be fine but Caleb wasn't going to take anything for granted. It wasn't a luxury he had anymore and he knew he wasn't leaving the hospital on the word of some doctor telling him that Sam would be fine. He wanted to see him awake and talking before he went on his own way. A bullet to the back wasn't a simple injury.

"Hey …" He smiled down at Sam's blinking eyes. "You with me?"

Sam was finally able to keep his eyes open and he looked up blearily into Caleb's face. Caleb wouldn't be smiling if something was seriously wrong with Dean but Sam still needed to know.

"Ca…leb?"

"The one and only." He nodded. "How're you doing?"

"Dean?"

Caleb rolled his eyes. He should have known that Sam's first questions would be about the welfare of his brother despite the fact that he was lying in a hospital bed after being shot. It was typical and Caleb admired their relationship.

"Dean's fine, dude," Caleb assured him. "Although he's gonna be pissed with me all over again when he finds out that no-one woke him up to come and see you."

Dean had fallen back asleep when they had moved Sam to a regular room. The younger hunter had needed the rest and he was already pissed with Caleb so he had made sure that the staff had let Dean sleep. That had been four hours earlier.

Sam frowned in confusion, licking his dry lips. "What … happened?" It annoyed Sam that his voice was barely above a whisper.

Caleb sighed. "Just a little altercation with a knife but he's fine seriously, Sam. He's just sleeping it off."

Sam's eyes widened. "Is h..he okay?"

"Would I lie to you about something like this?" Caleb asked seriously.

Sam held the psychic's gaze. "No …"

"Good." Caleb patted his arm and sat back down in his chair. "So how're you feeling?"

Sam closed his eyes for a moment as he contemplated the question. "Numb actually … and tired."

"Yeah well they have you on some of the good stuff." Caleb leaned back in his chair. "I called Mac to let him know what happened …"

Sam groaned. "He's not … coming out here … is he?" It wasn't that Sam didn't want to see the doctor in question but he didn't want the man running out every time they got in trouble or hurt. It seemed to happen a lot and Mac had enough on his plate with having to run the Triad all by himself now.

Caleb quirked an eyebrow and an amused smile pulled at his lips. "I'm sure he would love your enthusiasm Sammy but no … I told him to stay put, that you guys were okay."

"Thanks … Caleb…"

Caleb heard the tiredness in Sam's voice and decided it was time that he let the doctors know their patient was awake and leave.

"What the hell do you think you are playing at?" Dean's voice growled from the doorway as he was pushed into the room by a nurse.

Caleb grimaced. He had been hoping that he would avoid this attack. He turned around to face the younger hunter and smirked. "Nice set of wheel's there Deuce, you trading the Impala in?"

Dean gave him a glare that would rival John's and ignored the question. "Why they hell didn't you wake me up?"

"You needed rest."

"Dean …"

The softly spoken sound of his name coming from the bed halted Dean's argument. Dean stood up from the wheelchair, using his IV pole for support. He shrugged away from the annoying nurse and vaguely heard her mention she'd be back to collect him later.

Caleb moved out of the way of a very determined Dean. He reached out and grabbed stubborn idiots arm when he nearly wavered again. "Will you sit down before you fall down?" Caleb groused.

"Would you leave me alone?" Dean snapped back. "I can look after myself."

Caleb raised an eyebrow. "Sure you can." He released Dean's arm once the kid was sitting and stood back and walked around to the other side of Sam's bed.

Dean ignored the older hunter and moved his chair closer to Sam's bed. "Hey Sammy," Dean greeted, placing his hand on the arm, not realising he was mimicking Caleb's earlier pose.

Sam felt his uneasiness about not knowing where his brother was fade away as he could hear Dean's annoyed voice, feel his brothers hand on his arm. "Hey Dean …" He sighed.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." Sam whispered tiredly. "How … are you?"

"Me?" Dean questioned. Looking up at Caleb, not sure how much the psychic had said. "I'm awesome."

Caleb watched the brothers reconnect for a bit. Their balance was back and he had no doubt that both of them would bounce back from this latest setback.

"Okay." Caleb clapped his hands together. "If you two think you can handle recovering without getting into more trouble I think I'm gonna hit the road."

"We can look after ourselves." Dean repeated for felt like the thousandth time.

"Dean …" Sam quietly reprimanded.

A witty retort was on the tip of Caleb's tongue but he decided to save it. It would only bring about more verbal sparring and he wasn't in the mood and Sam was starting to fade on them again.

Caleb turned to Sam and placed a hand on the younger psychic's shoulder. "I'll be in touch Sammy and … you know … call me whenever."

"Thanks Caleb." Sam gave him a dopey smile, indicating that the drugs really were taking him under again.

"See ya, Sammy." Caleb ruffled Sam's shaggy brown hair and then looked up meeting Dean's gaze. "Take it easy, Deuce. I'm only a phone call away."

Dean remained silent as his friend backed up a few steps and then turned to walk out of Sam's room.

That was one big difference between Caleb and his dad. That whole year they had been searching for John, their father hadn't answered the phone once, not when Dean had called from Lawrence and not when Sam had called to tell him that Dean was dying. Dean loved his father something fierce but not having that assurance that year had been a little bit frightening.

He knew deep down that Caleb would never break off contact like that. The whole restaurant situation was indicative of that.

"Thanks, Damien." Dean called out loud enough for the other hunter to hear. He tightened his grip on Sam's arm. He knew that he would have most likely been able to get out of the hold up without Caleb's help given enough time. But if Caleb hadn't of shown up when he did then he might have not had enough time to save Sam. He couldn't ignore that fact.

Caleb turned around and smiled. "No problem, Deuce." He was out the door before anything else could be said and Dean still didn't like where things were going but at least if Caleb was keeping in contact with Sam he could still keep an eye on the older hunter without being obvious about his concerns.

"Are … you okay Dean?" Sam slightly slurred as sleep beckoned.

Dean's attention was brought back to his brother whose eyes were barely open. Sam still looked worried but Dean didn't want Sam to worry about him. He was fine. It had apparently been close but he didn't want Sam to know that either. He hoped that Caleb hadn't disclosed too much.

"I'm fine and you're gonna be fine too Sammy, just get some rest okay. I'll be here when you wake up." Dean kept his smile in place until Sam's eyes drifted shut.

Things had gone so incredibly wrong and all they had tried to do was have a normal dinner. Why the hell did normal not agree with them? He had bristled at Sam's need for normalcy in the past but was it too much to ask to just go out and spend a couple of hours with your brother over a nice meal? Apparently it was if you were a Winchester.

Dean sighed and reached his hand up to Sam's head and ran a hand over Sam's hair. He breathed a sigh of relief. After so many hours of worrying over his brother's welfare it was good to relax in the knowledge that Sam wasn't going anywhere. Sam was alive and breathing.

xXx

To state that Sam Winchester was bored was an understatement. He had been in the hospital for a week and over the last couple of days he had been well enough to be awake for long periods of time. When Dean wasn't there he was stuck with day time TV or his own thoughts, he hadn't quite decided which was worse but he was more than ready to leave and recuperate in the Impala and whatever Motel room they decided on.

Dean wouldn't even bring him his laptop. His brother wanted him to rest and apparently Dean was sure that if Sam had the new laptop Caleb had bought for him he wouldn't rest.

So Sam sat there sulking as 'Bold and the Beautiful' finished and 'Days of Our Lives' started up. This was torture pure and simple. He had half a mind to just get up and check himself out like Dean had done after his electrocution induced heart attack. The only thing that stopped him was that he was still sore and really couldn't be bothered and the fact that Dean was supposed to be there any minute to check him out of this god damn small town hospital.

Where the hell was his brother anyways? If he was held up by some nurse he was flirting with then Sam was going to kill him.

Familiar footsteps halted Sam's thoughts of torturing his brother. Sam scowled at the older hunter as Dean rounded the corner with a cocky smirk on his face, pushing a wheel chair. Sam wondered briefly if Dean had taken his damn time on purpose just to annoy him but then of course he realised he probably had knowing Dean.

"You ready to go, Sammy?"

Bitch face firmly in place now, Sam scowled at his brother. "I've been ready to go for the last couple of days."

"Not according to the doctors. In fact they wanted to keep you in longer. You should be thanking me."

Sam rolled his eyes and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, pulling up short when the action bulled at the wound on his back. Sam sighed. "Can we just get out of here?" He was glad he had thought to get dressed before Dean had gotten back.

Dean seemed to take pity on the younger boy and nodded. "Yeah Sammy, let's get moving." He moved in to take Sam's arm, helping to lower him into the chair.

Sam was silent as Dean pushed him. His thoughts went back to what had happened since that night. Dean looked back to normal, healthy and Sam was grateful because he had been scared when he had first woken up in Dean's absence.

Melissa and Sami had come by to say hello which ended up being more of a flirting session for his brother, playing on his heroics which had Sam groaning and not from the pain of his injury.

Caleb had called at least once to make sure he was okay and to check up on how he was, even Mac had called despite Caleb's reassurances that they were fine.

Little Matthew had insisted to come and see them in the hospital, bringing his father and older brother with him. Sam didn't remember a lot of the details of what had happened but it always amazed him to watch Dean with children.

Matt had sat on his bed and told him in great detail how he had helped Dean and Caleb. How Dean and Caleb were super heroes like Batman and Robin. He would never forget the look on Dean's face when he had learnt that he was apparently Robin to Caleb's Batman. It had made Sam snicker.

He had watched as Dean acted like it was nothing when Matthew's father had thanked him for making sure Matt was safe.

With medication and instructions for Sam's care they were leaving and Sam wouldn't care if they never came to this town again. Sam was surprised when Dean pushed him out through the hospital's sliding doors to find the Impala sitting right outside waiting for him.

"Your chariot awaits, Princess." Dean quipped as he helped Sam out of the chair and into the front passenger seat of the Impala.

"Shut up."

Leaving the chair with a nurse Dean jogged around to the driver's side and slid onto the leather seat behind the steering wheel. He looked over to his brother and saw that Sam's head was resting against the window, he was sweating a bit and Dean was reminded that Sam wasn't exactly completely well just yet.

"You doing okay there, Sammy?" Dean asked. "Because if you're going to hurl do it now before we leave … and not in the car." The concern in Dean's eyes and voice betrayed his apparent worry for his cars upholstery.

"I'm fine, Dean." Sam assured and gave his brother a small smile. "Just glad to be home."

Dean frowned. "Dude, we haven't gone anywhere yet."

Sam opened his eyes and looked at Dean. "I know …"

Dean was quiet for a moment as Sam let his unspoken truth sink in. Dean groaned moments later and started the car. "Do you always have to get sappy after an injury?"

Sam chuckled as Dean manoeuvred the car our of the hospital parking lot and onto the main road that would take them out of town. The faint sound of 'Take it Easy' by The Eagles could be heard from the Impala's speakers, Dean softly singing along almost unconsciously relaxed Sam further into the seat.

They drove in a comfortable silence for a bit before Sam brought his head up from where it was leaning against the glass. "So where are we headed to now?"

Dean shrugged. "I was thinking of maybe West Virginia."

"You gonna talk to Caleb?" Sam asked.

Dean glanced at Sam and then back at the road. "Batman can kiss my ass." Dean growled good naturedly. "I'm no side-kick."

Sam snickered. "He is older than you."

"Yeah well … I'm older than you."

Sam chuckled and shook his head before leaning it back against the cool glass window. Silence enveloped the car again until Dean broke the silence.

"Same goes for you y'know … with the home thing."

Sam sighed and smiled as he closed his eyes. "I know."

The feel of the cars tires eating up road, Dean in control of the car, music playing softly in the background Sam found he was able to go to sleep. He knew he would get a better rest in the Impala with his brother by his side than in a hospital bed any day.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Hey Dean?" he asked with his eyes closed.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if we stick to fast food and mini-marts for a while. Restaurants feel overrated."

Dean's laugh made Sam smile and he let sleep claim him.

**The End**

* * *

Again Thanks everyone for their continued support and I really do hope I did okay with that ending. 

I have more stories on the way for anyone who is interested ... some Brotherhood ... some not :) Thanks guys! Enjoy Supernatural tomorrow night :D

Tara x0x


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